Blue properties boost market

This high demand is also reflected in the rise in sales prices, which reach up to €12,000 per square meter for luxury newly built homes with a sea view, but remain significantly lower than the corresponding costs, like on the French Riviera, where prices range from €30,000 to €60,000 per sq.m., real estate market executives say.

One of them, Konstantinos Grintzalis, head of the sales department of the Engel & Volkers Greece real estate agency network, told last weekend’s Real Estate Forum in Athens that “according to the latest data from our international network, Greece is in second place this year in terms of increased purchasing interest, behind only Italy, while we are directly competing with markets such as Spain and Switzerland.”

He said location, view and sustainability make up the narrative of the Greek market, where a 45% increase is recorded for energy-independent homes (for instance, with a water management system), which do not belong to a high climate risk zone.

“Foreigners do not want to alter the Greek landscape, but to preserve it, as this is also a key reason why they choose Greece,” noted Grintzalis.

Barnes Greece head Katerina Mitsotaki argued that “we remain a market that lacks a large number of luxury properties. There is not yet much product to be made available, but we have adapted very quickly to demand, and this is gradually changing. However, it is also important we have ceased to be only the country of the countryside house.”

“Indeed, we have retirees, but also young people from the US and Europe who want to live in a seaside location, and now we have clients who bought a country house a few years ago and are now starting to look for property in Athens, while they are even looking for properties to invest in,” noted Mitsotaki.

Read More Source  Kathimerini