Prospects for acquiring real estate in Greece

Demand for resort real estate in Greece continues to grow rapidly. Moreover, factors such as rising construction material costs and increases in land prices affect pricing in new developments. Greece is now clearly feeling the onset of a real boom in foreign investment that had long bypassed the country. At the same time, Greece is not facing the problem of overcrowding that already affects Spanish, Italian and French resorts. Unlike those countries, Greece still has a large number of plots on the seafront, and it will be possible to buy a villa in Greece right on the coast. There will be enough Greek coastline for everyone, as the country's coastline stretches for more than 15,000 kilometers.

Stable growth in Greek property prices is being observed precisely in those areas where there is demand from foreign buyers for resort properties — apartments, villas, cottages. The most popular destination is the Halkidiki peninsula, followed by Crete, Rhodes, Corfu and other famous resorts.

Another important point for investors is that buying Greek property and renting apartments in Greece is still much cheaper than in competing countries. And since this is a relatively new market, one can confidently expect a guaranteed increase in the prices of seaside properties in the coming decades.

Looking to the future

After a long wait, in the winter of 2008 the Council of Ministers of Greece approved a plan for the development of tourist zones. This plan will significantly facilitate the construction of large projects with developed tourist infrastructure, as it paves the way for the planned construction of residential resort complexes. According to this plan, Greece can expect the construction in the coming years of golf clubs, large residential resort complexes, hotels, marinas, conference halls, spa centers and much more. Thanks to this plan, Greece will become a popular year-round tourist destination.

But the aim of the Ministry of Tourism Development and the Ministry of the Environment, in addition to developing high-quality top-class tourist infrastructure, is to preserve the environment, represented by the world-famous picturesque bays and Greek islands. Learning from Spain's negative experience, where beautiful coastlines were built up with concrete and spoiled, the Greek government seeks to avoid similar mistakes. New bills are intended to regulate the chaotic development of the country's coastal areas.