Foreign investment in real estate in Greece has become a record

Sales of Greek real estate to foreigners soared by almost 30 % over the year and reached a record level in 2019 — 1.45 billion euros, writes Ekathimerini.

According to the Bank of Greece, in 2019, foreigners purchased real estate in the country for a total of 1.45 billion euros. This is 29.4% higher than the previous year-1.13 billion euros.

Real estate accounted for 35 % of foreign direct investment in the Greek economy, which amounted to 4.2 billion euros, according to Ekathimerini.

Foreign investment in Greek real estate has been growing rapidly in recent years. The number of transactions has increased sixfold since 2016, when the volume of investments by foreigners was only 22.4 million euros.

Despite this, in the last quarter of 2019, there was a noticeable decline, which experts believe is temporary. Sales decreased by 9.6 % compared to the same period in 2018.

According to experts, the slowdown in activity was expected and is associated with a wait-and-see attitude of investors in the run-up to the entry into force of measures that stimulate the market, such as the exemption of purchases of new buildings from VAT until 2022.