Greek Real Estate – The Nationalities Buying Second Homes in Greece

With demand for Greek real estate by foreign investors remaining on a steady upward trend and with the country’s GDP projected to grow in 2024 by 2.2% and 2.3% in 2025, resulting in an economic environment conducive to positioning in the property sector, the Athens-based Elxis company offers some interesting insights into the nationalities and reasons they are buying second homes in Greece.

According to the analysis by Elxis-At Home in Greece, a company specializing in the vacation and second-home market, buyers over 50 and middle and upper management executives constitute the primary groups investing their savings primarily in newly built high-end properties in the Greek market.

The study shows that this group of buyers is mainly interested in acquiring vacation homes for personal use, while prospective high-income investors aged between 35 and 45 also appear interested in renting out their second homes, apart from using them themselves and later reselling them for tax-free capital gains.

According to Elxis’ data, this is the main difference between younger buyers and the rest, who still make up the majority. In other words, older individuals are more likely to choose a property for personal use and less often for renting or reselling it for profit.

Interestingly, Dutch and Belgian buyers in the younger age group are more business-driven, as they seem more interested in renting out their vacation homes in Greece when they are not using them.

Buyers from the U.S. and the U.K. primarily focus on personal use of vacation homes, but they are also increasingly interested in securing residency in Greece through the “Golden Visa” program.

This trend continues despite the recent increase in the minimum investment threshold from €250,000 to €400,000 for properties located on the mainland, and to €800,000 for properties on islands.

Many French and German buyers appear primarily motivated by personal use when investing in Greek real estate, though some aim to lease their properties through short-term leases.

Particularly for German buyers, and to a lesser extent those from the U.S., it’s worth noting that between 10% and 20% are expatriates seeking to purchase their first home in the country of their heritage.