Interest in real estate is seen growing
Chinese and Russian investors are showing increased interest in acquiring properties in Greece, mostly in Athens, as well as the islands of Rhodes, Crete and Corfu, according to a report by real estate agency Danos & Associates-BNP Paribas on the course of the property market in the first six months of the year.
The Chinese and the Russians are motivated by the legal clause offering them a five-year residence permit if they invest at least 250,000 euros in the Greek property market. Yet Danos & Associates also records a recently increased interest on the part of British buyers, who are focusing their attention on the Cyclades islands and Corfu.
Home buyers have a wide variety of options to choose from as the existing stock is particularly big, while expectations of a stabilization of the market this year have not materialized: House prices dropped by another 11.5 percent in the first half of the year, bringing the total decline over the last three years to an average of 28.7 percent.
The report showed that Greece’s political stability along with the price drop have increased the appetite of foreign buyers, but it adds that for that interest to turn into acquisitions, the government will need to continue with its reforms program.
