More than one in ten vacation home acquisitions (12.35%) this year in Greece was made by Greeks in the diaspora, according to data published by the real estate agency Elxis.
Elxis, with offices in Thessaloniki, Crete and Utrecht in the Netherlands, is an elite provider of real estate and legal services in the Greek market.
The company says second- and third-generation Greek expats, mainly from the United States, Canada and Germany, are making a strong return to their home country. They want to buy a house to visit Greece more often.
One of the driving forces behind this increase in demand, especially this year, is the fact that the Greek real estate market is in a state of rapid price recovery, explains Elxis.
At the same time, buyers can find high-quality properties at competitive prices, especially compared to countries in which these people reside permanently.
According to George Gavrilidis, CEO of Elxis, “according to our data, 20.5% of expats buying properties in Greece come from Germany, a further 20.5% come from Canada, while US expats are responsible for 17 .5% of acquisitions.
“Holiday homes in Greece are also purchased by expats who live permanently in the Netherlands (11%), France (6.8%) and Switzerland (5.4%). Expats are mainly interested in properties in Crete, Halkidiki and the Ionian Sea.
More than 75% of Greek expats prefer to buy new homes off-plan. They want to use the house for their vacations but also rent it, mainly on a short-term basis.
“One of our projects in the popular first peninsula of Chalkidiki is an example,” adds Gavrilidis. “The project included cave houses, 35% of which were purchased by expatriates. In another of our projects in Crete, 27% of buyers were expats.
In its latest monthly report on the European short-term rental market, AirDNA said that summer 2023 was characterized by the full return of American tourists to popular European destinations.
It was the first time American visitors had come to Europe on such a scale since the pandemic. Until now, they mainly preferred destinations located on the American continent, or only within American borders.
This development has significantly increased the demand for short-term rentals. As a result, 17% of Greek visitors came from the United States.
In fact, according to AirDNA, this was the fifth largest group of American tourists in all of Europe. A portion of these visitors were second or even third generation Greek expats, who ultimately took the opportunity to visit their home country for the first time in their lives.
This has also had a significant effect on vacation home sales, which is often the case in secondary property markets. People who visit a beautiful place for vacation also research the real estate market so that they can buy their dream home.
Exis says the same can be said for German visitors, who are also part of a large “pool” of holiday home buyers in Greece.
Elxis data from 2022 showed a ‘boom’ in holiday home buyers from Germany, with a 300% increase compared to 2021. Expats played a major role in this increase, returning to Greece looking for a property that they could enjoy during their summer vacation. .
