Greek buyers are making a strong return to the holiday home market, a trend seen for the first time since the start of the financial crisis.
According to an analysis of the holiday home sales company Elxis-At Home In Greecedemand and purchases of holiday properties by Greeks have increased significantly in the last six months.
Mr. Giorgos Gavrielidis, managing director of Elxis, said speaking to the newspaper “Kathimerini”:
“Until recently, we had registered strong buying interest from expatriate Greeks, who made up 10% of all sales we made in Greece. Now, however, we find that the demand from Greek nationals, that is, permanent residents, has increased significantly.”
This trend becomes even more interesting as well Elxis is based in the Netherlands and specifically in Utrecht and promotes Greek real estate in the North West European markets, as well as to Greek expatriates from countries such as Australia, the USA, Canada and Germany.
According to the company’s data, Greeks who invest in holiday homes are mainly people aged 45-60 and freelancerssuch as doctors and lawyers.
They often choose properties from the design stage, that is, from the initial stage of construction, in order to ensure a lower cost.
“The budget of the particular buying group is moving between 250,000-350,000 euros, preferring houses of high aesthetics and without having as their main concern securing a very low price”, emphasizes Mr. Gavrielidis.
Another important aspect is that buyers prefer not to depend on bank loans and instead finance the vacation home purchase through savings. This practice avoids them from the risk of high interest rates and motivates the growth of transactions.
According to Elxis data, these buyers prefer areas that have not undergone vigorous growth. For example, in Crete, they focus on Rethymno and Chania, choosing areas with less tourist traffic. All along the coastline from Igoumenitsa to Preveza and Palairo, there is corresponding interest.
In addition, in Rhodes, buyers focus on central and western side of the island, which do not have such intense growth. A similar demand is observed in the islands of the eastern Aegean.
The purchase of holiday homes is an investment perspective
In contrast to the period before the financial crisis, today’s Greek holiday home buyers have an investment perspective, beyond their own use for a few days or weeks a year.
“Greek buyers prefer newly built single-family houses, of small size, that gather good prospects for securing incomes through short-term rental platforms.
Their main concern is investment, with the aim of exploitation, without of course this means that they do not proceed to the same use of the properties they buy. However, the choice of utilization is also in focus, in order for the cottage to generate some income as well. In fact, since bank borrowing is not used, the annual return also increases”, explains Mr. Gavrielidis.
