In the most popular country for German investors and private buyers real estate develops Hellas. Market participants estimate that over the past year, especially after the health crisis receded, German buyers housing became the most mobile, overtaking the Chinese, who had a significant presence thanks to the golden visa program.

“Over the past year and compared to last year, we recorded an increase in the number of property searches in Greece by at least 70%”, Marios Christodoulou reports to “K”.Head of digital real estate platform Ferimmo.

This platform is addressed to the entire German-speaking population of Europe, in particular Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg. It hosts around 40,000 properties from all over Greece with a total value of over 6 billion euros and cooperates with over 200 real estate agencies. In relation to 2021, there is an increase in the number of real estate objects by 25% and by 40% compared to 2020.

This growth is also reflected in the figures of the Central Bank on the inflow of foreign capital into the Greek real estate market. On this basis, the first half of this year sees an increase of 61% to 788 million euros compared to 488 million euros in the corresponding period last year. In the second quarter alone, the relative size amounted to 414.4 million euros, an increase of 67% compared to the previous year.

According to relevant analyses, the potential number of German property buyers in Greece exceeds 250,000. This size corresponds to a potential market of 4-5 billion euros over time. However, additional steps are required to translate this interest into sales. One of them is, for example, the recent collaboration between Ferimmo and Eurobank. The latter now offers special housing loans targeted at the European market, especially the German market. “Every German citizen can now get financing to purchase real estate in Greece with a mortgage on the property itself, which until now has not been possible for non-permanent residents and non-Greek citizens,” says Mr. Christodoulou. The event is expected to “open up” a large part of the German market, he said, which is predicted to translate into more buying and selling in the coming months. In the long term, while developing a home loan for the purchase of Greek property by German citizens, a market with a total volume of 3 billion euros will be created.

Basically, they ask for mansions with two bedrooms or more, ranging from 100 to 120 sq.m, and the average cost is from 250,000 to 450,000 euros.

Another element that reinforces the desire of Germans to invest outside their own country also stems from the dynamics of the German housing market. According to the UBS Global Property Bubble Index, compiled by UBS, two German cities, Frankfurt and Munich, are currently experiencing a real estate bubble. In fact, Frankfurt ranks as the second and Munich as the fourth most overrated city in the overall ranking of the 25 metropolitan areas surveyed by UBS. Therefore, the two largest markets for Germans are now considered unattractive for investment, and prices are also much higher in other cities of the country. Therefore, the prospect of investing in real estate markets outside of Germany is currently more attractive.

According to Ferimmo, pure Germans (not German expatriates) are interested in buying homes in traditional tourist destinations such as Crete, Peloponnese, the Ionian Islands, Chalkidiki, Pelion and the Cyclades. “However, the interest that we have seen lately in urban centers such as Athens and Attica in general, and especially in the wider area of ​​Thessaloniki, is constantly growing,” emphasizes Mr. Christodoulou. The type of property that the Germans are looking for is mostly detached houses (ideally with sea and garden views), with demand for houses with two bedrooms and above, from 100-120 sq.m. on average, and the average value ranges from 250,000 to 450,000 euros.

tax incentives

Of course German property buyers and of course Greek expatriates have always been a key investment group in the Greek market. However, in recent times, interest has increased significantly, which is also due to the greater ease of access to finding accommodation in Greece.

Similarly, property markets in Spain, Italy and Portugal have grown over the past two decades as buyers in the Nordic countries find it easier to find property with the help of technology. Another reason lies in the country’s exit from the memorandums and the financial crisis, while the adoption of measures friendly to foreign real estate investors also played an important role. One of them is tax incentives for the purchase of real estate in Greece by pensioners from the Nordic countries, as well as the abolition of 24% VAT on the purchase of real estate.