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It is true that when one thinks of Greece, the first images to come to mind are ever-ending coasts jewelled with pristine waters and warmed by an all-encompassing sun. For some, it is the Grecian sunlight that renders these sites unique. What if we told you that you could enjoy the very same sun in a cooler, alpine setting?

"We didn't choose Plakias, Plakias chose us."


It was in 2020, when retired business owner Albert Salden and his wife, Ine de la Brassine, from a village in the far south of the Netherlands called Born, bought a home 2,304 kilometers away in Plakias, southern Crete. The decision was prompted by cold business criteria but later evolved into a flow of warm emotions, becoming one of the best financial moves, Albert, aged 62, says he ever made. The three-bedroom home was built from scratch, just the way the couple wanted it, offering spectacular sea views, an outdoor covered kitchen, an infinity pool, and comfort and luxury seen in most style magazines.

In the spring of 2022, as Europe emerged from the pandemic, Greece briefly held a remarkable title: the fastest-growing short-term rental market on the continent, with demand that March up more than 200 percent year on year, according to data provider AirDNA, ahead of Portugal and Croatia. Foreign buyers poured in, with the Bank of Greece recording 1.17 billion euros of foreign investment in Greek homes in 2021, and our own founder Giorgos Gavriilidis noted at the time that demand from the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, focused on Crete and the Ionian islands, was keeping prices firm. He predicted further growth, and the years since proved him right. That boom is the backstory to today's market, and understanding what happened next matters far more to a buyer in 2026 than the 2022 numbers do. The short version: the market matured, the state caught up, and short-term rentals in Greece moved from a gold rush to a regulated, professionalised activity that still works well, in the right places, done properly.

If you're buying or selling a home in Greece, you'll come across the Electronic Building Identity (Ηλεκτρονική Ταυτότητα Κτιρίου), and it's worth understanding, because no property can change hands without it. In simple terms, it's a digital file that records what a building is and how it has changed over its life. It brings welcome transparency to a market that long lacked it, and for buyers in particular, it's a genuine safeguard. Here's what it is, what it contains, and what it means for you.

Designing buildings and space is about creating experiences, not just something attractive, while modern challenges have made architects an even more necessary part of the building process.