A Diverse Property Investment Market
One of the reasons that the market has diversified away from the already popular residential, second and holiday home sectors is the effect of the 2004 Olympics, which cannot be underestimated.
Demand for rental accommodation was boosted and in turn heightened investors' interest in new residential opportunities, particularly within Greece's major cities. This combined with the increased number of low cost airlines, such as GB Airlines, has only helped stimulate demand for property and in turn push up prices.
Increased Value in Property Prices
According to latest figures, property prices have increased year-on-year by 7% in the first quarter of 2007; prices for apartments in Athens increased by 12% with an average price growth of 15% for all properties in other major cities.
On average Athens saw house prices increase by 164% in the period 1999 to 2002, with the rest of the country experiencing a 111% increase. As a whole, house prices saw impressive growth of 214% during the period 1993 and 2006, with a 10.5% price increase for urban property in 2006, according to Global Property Guides. The increasing numbers of foreign purchasers has added to local market demand for property.
Property Greece - Rental Yields
Rental yields on the mainland of Greece range from 5.5% to 7%, with a typical rental price of €1,000 per month for a 120 square metre property. On the main islands such as Crete, the rental figure is higher at €1,200 per month with yields between 5% and 6%. In peak season yields in these areas can be as high as 30%.
Investment in Greece Real Estate
Greece's real estate market compares favourably with other Mediterranean countries and the current period in the market is subject to significant growth, as remarked on by numerous commentators such as J&B Development. The Institute for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) has furthermore recognised that the bullish property market in Greece has made a significant contribution to the country's economic growth in the last decade, which can only bode well for its continued high performance.
In the words of the Greek Property Investor's guide Amberlamb.com: "Greece even has an emerging market within an emerging market for those who prefer bleeding edge property investment for maximum profit potential."
Buying Property in Greece
Athens is a particular hotspot for buy-to-let properties, and the number of buyers from the UK is on the increase. UK citizens account for a massive 80% of Greece's foreign property purchasers, who are attracted by low property prices (particularly for villas and apartments), a strong mortgage market, a modernised tax system and measures that prevent overdevelopment.
The influential property magazine 'A Place In The Sun' found that Greece was the sixth most favourable destination for foreign buyers as a whole. Greece's popularity as an investment destination is hardly surprising when house prices increased by 134% between 1995 and 2004.
Tourism in Greece
The 2007 figure for Greece's travel & tourism economy (direct and indirect impact) is estimated to be approximately 16.5% of GDP and 20% of employment (or 896,000 jobs). Between 2008 and 2017 the tourist economy is projected to grow by 3.9% per annum in real terms. The level of travel and tourism capital investment was estimated at €6.4 billion in 2006, and is forecast to rise to €12.9 billion in 2016 in line with expected growth patterns.
Greece a "Buy to Let" Market
With the growing tourism industry in Greece and low costs direct flights from the UK and other European countries, Greece provides interesting buy to let investment opportunities.
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