What the Bank of Greece says about the real estate market
Greece was in crisis for a long time, but its economy is already showing good dynamics. The coronavirus epidemic has hit all countries, and Greece is no exception. According to some experts, the worst will be the tourism industry and real estate market. In this regard, the Bank of Greece has made a price forecast for housing and commercial objects.
The country’s main regulator warned about the danger for the real estate segment during the peak of the epidemic. In this case, the uncertainty factor had a critical impact. Nobody could predict how long the coronavirus outbreak will continue and what consequences it will have for the domestic and global market. In addition, a number of processes would have to be restructured in order to adapt them to existing realities. Therefore, Central Bank analysts took into account the short- and long-term options.
The Greek real estate market is closely linked to the tourism industry, and has an impact on a number of other segments of the economy. At the beginning of the year the value of the objects here remained at the same level, after a small subsidence was noticed, which affected certain types of real estate. However, such changes did not have much impact on the overall picture. According to the specialists of the Bank of Greece, soon the demand for objects will grow, foreign investors will come to the market and local ones will become more active.
Most of the real estate investments in the country were made by foreigners. Last year, thanks to foreign investors, the market received about 1.5 billion euros, which is 28.5% more than in 2018. The leader in terms of popularity was and remains residential real estate.
Over the year, the cost of facilities across the country increased by 7.2%, in Athens prices increased by 10.4%. Despite the good results, experts say that efforts should be made to strengthen domestic demand, which is inferior to external demand. However, this is feasible if economic indicators and living standards improve.
According to the Bank of Greece, foreign investments in the market grew 6 times in 4 years. The interest in the country has noticeably increased after the launch of the Golden Visa program. In exchange for a residence permit, more than 15 thousand foreign citizens have purchased local real estate. This is an excellent result at which the country’s authorities are not going to stop. The Greek government is planning to launch a citizenship program in exchange for investments. This option is a success in many European countries, and given the developed tourism industry, Greece has every chance to get a large investment from foreigners.