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Americans Keen on Buying Property in Greece, a Study Shows
Posted On 30 Sep 2022
Tag: Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Athens Properties, buying property in Greece, Covid-19 impact Greece, economy, golden visa Greece, Golden Visa program Greece, Greece economy, Greece investment options, Greece investments, Greek Real Estate Market, investing in Greece, investments, Kyriakos Xydis, Property market Greece, real estate market Greece
Paros, Greece. Photo source: VisitGreece / © P. Merakos
Greece’s friendly golden visa program combined with lower prices and mild weather are the main reasons Americans wish to buy property in the country, said real estate experts Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.
More specifically, according to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ “European Summer Market Report”, Greece is a top option for international buyers.
To meet the growing demand, Greece-based office Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Athens Properties has expanded its portfolio to include popular vacation favorites such as Mykonos, Santorini and Paros, which have traditionally attracted buyers from all over the world.
Kyriakos Xydis
“We’re expecting a strong resurgence of interest from abroad in buying and renting real estate in Greece, especially with regard to luxury holiday homes at popular tourist destinations and on islands in the Cyclades, on Crete and Corfu,” said Kyriakos Xydis, managing partner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Athens Properties.
Xidis goes on to add that previous study findings indicate a continued demand for luxury apartments in the center of Athens, and in the northern and southern suburbs of the Attica region.
The sense of luxury offered along the Athenian Riviera combined with the easy access are winning over buyers, added Xydis.
Meanwhile, according to the same report, quality of life, cost of living, friendlier taxation and temperate climate are the main factors driving real estate investments in Europe with Americans again topping the list. At the same time, the Covid-19 pandemic created new conditions including remote work options making Europe an even more attractive choice.
Mykonos, Greece.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is a real estate brokerage franchise network with more than 50,000 professional realtors, some 1,500 offices in the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe and the Middle East, and turnover exceeding $138 billion in real estate sales volume.
My brother in law, and 2 British ex=pats have all bought properties in the Sitia, Crete area. All experiences delays > 1 year in getting the purchase and ownership cleared. One found out 2 years later that there was still a lean on his home from the previous owners.
Buying property in Greece seems to be profoundly harder, more time consuming and more risky than purchasing property in other countries and profoundly harder than buying property in the US.
Sounds like a familiar story, unfortunately. Cumbersome bureaucracy has burdened the state and legal work for decades.
While Greece strides forward in certain respects, there are still hurdles to jump in order to make it a stable market. So far, it’s a cheap(er), unruly and beautiful one – global impending doom, price surges and Golden Visa rate hikes aside…