Strong mobility is seen in the “red” housing market, as large real estate players are quick to make use of the strong demand for Golden Visa and Airbnb. Golden visa scheme with Airbnb are becoming auction houses writes a Greek publication.
Greece is becoming an airbnb investment destination as more and more properties offered short-term lease purchase through the Airbnb platform which ends up housing for tourists, especially in areas of high demand such as the center of Athens as most golden visa buyers do not live in the property and chose to lease.
According to Airbnb statistics, there are 5,127 properties listed in Athens alone with over 4200 entire apartments and over 800 private rooms with average of€55 per night. Renting tourists full time brings revenue of €382 per month.
According to the latest figures from the Hotelier Association , the number of beds leased via the international platform is in number of hotel beds in the capital.
According to insider.gr Golden Visas, offers returns of up to 7%, . “Chinese, Turkish or Russians who buy a property in Athens are not interested in living in it. They outsource their management to real estate developers and receive a return of 5% per annum.
According to Enterprise Greece, In athens alone, 820 property owners received permits under Golden visa scheme.
| Golden visas for property owners | |
| Country | Permits |
| China | 1521 |
| Russia | 438 |
| Turkey | 337 |
| Lebanon | 113 |
| Egypt | 112 |
| Iraq | 87 |
| Ukraine | 84 |
| Syria | 67 |
| Jordan | 63 |
| Iran | 61 |
| Other countries | 271 |
| TOTAL | 3.154 |
Source: Ministry for Migration Policy
Date: 30.8.2018
Further, management companies renovate the homes they buy from banks after auctioning and sell them through special channels targeting buyers from China, Turkey, Russia or the Arab countries. Investors from these countries are interested in getting European citizenship for five years so they can move freely to the European Union. At the same time, an investment of € 250,000 earns € 17,000 per year (7%) less management commission, which usually ranges at 2% (€ 5,000).
Greece is expected in 2018 to welcome 32 million arrivals and revenue growth of 15 percent, following the record year of 2017, which saw 30 million arrivals and revenues of more than 15 billion euros.
Many foreign investors prefer to invest and reopen existing hotels over purchasing land for the development of new units in order to avoid bureaucracy and delays in issuing licenses.
According to GTP News, Angela Michalakopoulou, general director of Enterprise Greece, said foreign investors were in fact showing an interest not only for existing hotels but also to purchase land to build hotels from ground up (green field investment). Michalakopoulou added that Greece’s “golden visa” program is attracting foreign interest by a high rate, recording a 40 percent increase from month to month compared to 2017.
