In the coming years, more Israeli investments are planned in the Greek real estate sector, both in Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as on popular Greek islands such as Crete, Lefkada and Corfu, according to Eitan Maoz, its founder and CEO. “EM Global Real Estate Investment” and a member of the executive committee of the Israeli-Greek Chamber, based in Tel Aviv.

Large Israeli real estate investment companies, which operate exclusively or mainly in the US and rely on the exploitation of real estate in the form of shares, have begun to be interested in Greece, seeing the country’s development prospects, he said, speaking to Athenian – Macedonian News Agency.

On the contrary, of course, according to Mr. Maoz, there is a feeling among some investors in Israel that the train of opportunity for very high real estate returns in our country may have already been lost. This is because prices are now following the upward trend in relation to the gold “deals” of the period of the financial crisis of 2009, and may already be considered very high in areas such as the Athenian “Riviera”.

In addition, the banking system seems to be a disincentive for some Israeli real estate investors, as “while in the US or Germany they take loans at very competitive interest rates, in Greece they do not even get to the point of negotiating interest rates, as their loans they are often never approved” said Maoz.

In any case, Israeli real estate investments in Greece are on the rise, with Israeli Ambassador to Athens Yossi Amrani pointing out that his country is one of the top “players” in the Greek tourism and real estate market. How many millions of euros does this investment presence translate into? According to Mr. Maoz, it is almost impossible to record the total amount of Israeli real estate investments in Greece – among other things because many entrepreneurs do not invest directly from Israel, but through other countries.

Abroad, the closest markets to Israel with prospects for returns are Greece and Cyprus. “One reason they invest in Greece is the geographical proximity. Many Israelis buy real estate in the United States, which they may never see up close. While Greece is two hours away by plane. “You can not only see your property, but also benefit from the good weather and the way of life”, notes Mr. Maoz.

The proximity is not only geographical, but also in culture and customs, as may they differ in many things, but they also have much in common, says the Israeli businessman and member of the executive committee of the Israeli-Greek Chamber, adding that other motives are the still low real estate prices, the fact that Greece is an EU member state, the political and monetary stability, but also the tax benefits that derive from the bilateral conditions Greece – Israel.

If small private investors, equity funds and hotel companies already place their money in Greece, for other categories of Israeli investors, our country remains off the “map”. This applies -for example- to institutional investors, such as pension and insurance funds and funds, who are looking for large projects (around or over 100 million euros), hard to find in Greece in the field of real estate, while in addition the operation is regulated by the Israeli government, which requires conservative investments without risk. As a result of the combination of these factors (lack of large projects and regulation), such investors, who have already invested hundreds of millions of euros in the US or German real estate markets, are not currently actively “looking” at Greece.

“In any case, I believe that the trend for the coming years is the continuation of Israeli investments in Greece, since looking at macroeconomic data and charts, we see that the economy will become stronger, that the country is moving forward” he said, adding that in this picture Major infrastructure projects and projects, such as the Athens Metro or the renovation of the “Elliniko”, also contribute, while the role of the Israeli-Greek Chamber is crucial, which encourages investors to consider Greece as an investment destination.

In which areas of Greece is the Israeli investment interest in real estate focused? “It means Athens, but also Thessaloniki as the average investor first of all chooses the location and usually looks first at the capital and the big urban centers. But in the field of hospitality, there is of course a lot of interest for islands like Crete, and for several years Lefkada – which is accessible by road.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ