The Boom of Real Estate In Athens

Greece is expected to be among 2020's best real-estate investment prospects, notably in the capital–Athens. It is due to a combination of variables, namely economic growth, increased tourism, and foreign direct investment. With so many optimistic patterns converging, you might never find a better period in Greece for buying real estate properties.

Keep reading to find out some of the reasons for the boom of real estate in Athens.

The Athens Real Estate Market Today

The price of real estate in central Athens during the first six months of 2018 reached € 1,500/m2, which is many times lower than in many other parts of Europe. Athens real estate is approximately two times cheaper per square meter than Lisbon, three times cheaper than Madrid, Barcelona, and Berlin, four times cheaper than Wien, and approximately seven times cheaper in comparison to Paris.

Why Real Estate in Athens is Heating Up

Foreign investment is streaming into the Greek Real estate market; it is because of more advantageous economic circumstances (although the economy contracted in Q3 2018 for the nine straight quarters). The Greek ' Golden Visa Program ' offers Greek citizenship to all non-EU expats spending 250,000 euros in the real estate market. The scheme tends to be massively popular with buyers, specifically those from China and Israel, and helps promote up real estate prices in Athens.

In Athens, it is much likely for the property investment to be one of the primary beneficiaries of Greece's growing real estate market. Trading Economics estimates capital real estate price growth will hit 22% by 2020. The question arises: Why are people attracted to the capital so much?

The first explanation is the property value level, which has seen prices fall from the high year of 2008 by 42.8 percent. Property sales and construction development both are growing again but are still far below their expected levels.

The second explanation is that from the past few years, Athens has experienced an increase in tourism. The cradle in a classical civilization like no other possesses charisma, and the world already knows that. With tourism growing, big corporations are eager to grow their footprint throughout Greece and especially in Athens. However, private investors can also contend with the holiday rental attractiveness of city-center apartments–a highly profitable source of revenue that leads to price growth.

Opportunities for Investors

Backed by growing demand from investors, the Athens property market is experiencing a renaissance. The number of real estate transactions in the city grew by 18 percent in 2017, and by 1.5 times in the first two months of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017, as per the Bank of Greece.

The increase in tourism boosts the demand for short-term real estate, and property investors are catering to this crowd that has potentially higher and continuous gains. Greece is experiencing a tourism boom–as per the Bank of Greece, the number of international visitors has risen from 15 million in 2009 to 30 million in 2017, the majority among whom visit Athens throughout their stay in the country. Thanks to its excellently-preserved heritage and pleasant atmosphere, it remains popular despite the economic circumstance.

It is the best time to invest in Greece and especially Athens to benefit the most from not only its heritage and climate but also the booming real estate market. If you wish to buy a property in Athens, you must check out Houses Directory to secure your property before it’s too late.