Hardly anyone will argue with this. penthouseapartment on the top floor of a house with spacious terraces, panoramic sea views and Acropolis and in the best place center of Athens, is not in particularly high demand among interested buyers. But is it possible to sell such an apartment for 18 million euros? The answer may seem unreasonable, but it is in the affirmative.

In the area of ​​the Palaces, bordering the streets of Herodos Attikou, Rigillis and Stisichorou, one of the most expensive transactions in recent years in the residential real estate sector of Athens was completed a few weeks ago.

golden deal

According to reports, a Swiss businessman with a wide range of activities and a particular preference for Greece, bought a 320 square meter penthouse for an astronomical amount of 18 million euros by the standards of the Athens real estate market, or about 56,000 euros for the Palace Square. The old building penthouse, one of the few available in the area, has an unobstructed view of the Kallimarmaro Panathinaikos stadium, Lycabettus and Parliament, the Acropolis, the sea and Aegina, as well as an elevator providing direct access to it. The information indicates that the new owner, who is about to begin renovation work in the near future, will be living for several months in the property, which will remain under renovation for the rest of the time.

“The deal, which took about ten months to complete, is indicative of the interest that exists in Athens. Traditionally, buyers of this caliber are placed in the markets of Zurich and New York. Unlike Athens, Mykonos registers one or two transactions of this size per year.” Giorgos Petras notes in “K”., managing director of Engel & Völkers, the real estate consultant network that closed the deal. And while the Greek luxury real estate market is considered cheaper compared to similar markets around the world, this does not seem to be the case with the Palace deal. According to a report by the consulting company Knight Frank, someone buys 17 sq.m. for the amount of $1 million. in Monaco, 33 and 34 sq.m. in New York and London and 43 sq.m. in Paris.

It took ten months to complete the deal and get the price… 56,000 euros per square meter!

Hilton

So far, in the residential sector in the center of Athens, sales at a price well above the market average included 50 luxury apartments of the planned integrated tourist complex, which will operate with a time horizon of 2025 instead of Hiltonbranded Conrad. The top two floors, located under the old Galaxy, were sold for 24,000 euros per square meter, while the bottom two floors changed hands for 21,000 euros per square meter. Apartments on the top two floors are Waldorf Astoria branded and those on the bottom two floors are Conrad branded. And the price per square meter of specific apartments under construction may be high, but compared to the Palace penthouse, it is still much lower, by more than 50%.

The long distance from the €18 million deal also separates his apartments. United Athens at the foot of Lycabettus, with a penthouse of a residential complex for 6.6 million euros.

High demand

More broadly, according to the information, the demand from foreigners with high incomes to buy property in Athens has increased significantly in recent years. It is significant that, according to Knight Frank, the Athens luxury housing market ranks ninth in the world in terms of the annual price growth rate, which reached 13% in 2022.