Even if we are in a pandemic period, there is a high interest for permanent vacation residences, with the interest of potential investors being particularly concentrated in luxury homes.
Specifically, the demand for holiday homes increased by 30%, with Glyfada, Paros and Santorini being the main destinations for buying homes, according to the report of the integrated real estate consulting company Cerved Property Services, which belongs to the international Italian Cerved Group.
The biggest buyer interest came from citizens of England, USA, Cyprus, Australia and France. A typical example of the high interest recorded is the purchase, by a Greek shipowner, of the houses that are being developed on a plot of land adjacent to “Asteras Vouliagmenis” with the transaction price exceeding 40 million euros. High interest was also recorded for the “Costa Navarino” residence complex, as well as the Kokotou residence complex in Elounda.
During the last three years there has been a strong interest in the residence market. The main reason is the continuous increase of tourist arrivals, which recorded a historical record for 2019, according to the report of Cerved Property Services. It is noted that the increase in visitors to Athens and Thessaloniki led to a similar increase in overnight stays.
The above figures were significantly affected by the pandemic despite the continuing rise in Golden Visa residence permits. In particular, in the second quarter of 2020 the gradual rise of Covid 19 led to a significant, by 60%, reduction of foreign investment in Real Estate compared to the second quarter of 2019. It is also worth noting that for the whole of 2019 only the 25% of foreign direct investment concerned Real Estate investments (€ 1.5 billion out of a total of € 4.4 billion).
Also, in 2019, a historic record was set in the issuance of Golden Visa after 3428 licenses were issued for the purchase of real estate with a total value of 857 million euros. Also noteworthy is the fact that 74% of Golden Visa licenses were issued to Chinese citizens.
However, even in the midst of a pandemic, our country remains, together with Spain and Portugal, in the top destinations in the issuance of special Residence Permits.
Short-term leases fell by 30%
According to the survey data, in November 2020 the short-term leases of houses through international platforms, in the wider Attica Region, fell by 30%. The largest reductions were recorded in Pagrati and Attica Square with reductions of 50% and 46% respectively.
On the contrary, leases in areas such as Thiseio and Neos Kosmos showed a very different picture, with the reductions being limited to 28.5% and 25% respectively. In terms of rental income, through the Sharing Economy and especially the Airbnb platform, they decreased by 30-35% compared to the respective income from short-term rental housing that their owners reaped in the years 2019 and 2020.
Finally, in terms of fiscal benefit through taxes paid by homeowners with short-term leases from 68 million euros in 2017 and 176 million euros in 2018 reached 200 million euros in 2019. In terms of wider benefits reaped The Greek economy, through sharing platforms, reached 1.15 billion euros for the period June 2018-May 2019.
Source: Capital.gr
