According to our 2023 data, over 1 in 10 holiday home (12.35%) acquisitions this year were made from expatriates. Greek expatriates of second and third generation, mainly coming from the U.S., Canada and Germany, are making a strong comeback to their motherland. They want to buy a house in order to visit Greece more often.
One of the driving forces behind this increased demand, especially this year, is the fact that the Greek property market is in a state of rapid recovery in pricing. At the same time, buyers can find high-quality properties that are priced competitively, especially compared to the countries where these people live permanently.
Where are Most Home Buyers From?
According to Mr. George Gavrilidis, CEO of Elxis, “based on our data, 20.5% of expatriates buying properties in Greece come from Germany, an additional 20.5% are from Canada, while US expatriates are responsible for 17.5% of the acquisitions. Holiday homes in Greece are also bought by expatriates who live permanently in the Netherlands (11%), France (6.8%), and Switzerland (5.4%). Expatriates are mainly interested in properties in Crete, Chalkidiki, and the Ionian Sea.”
Off-Plan Homes
In fact, over 75% of Greek expatriates prefer to purchase newly built houses off-plan. They want to use the home for their vacations, but also to lease out, mainly as short-term rentals. “One such example was a project of ours in Chalkidiki’s popular first peninsula. The project had cave houses, 35% of which were bought by expatriates. In another one of our projects in Crete, 27% of its buyers were expatriates.
U.S. Visitors to Greece Increase
In its latest monthly report for the European short-term rental market, AirDNA said that the summer of 2023 was characterized by the full comeback of U.S. tourists in popular European destinations. This was the first time that U.S. visitors came to Europe at such scale since the pandemic. Up until now, they mainly preferred destinations in the American continent, or solely within the U.S. borders.
This development has considerably increased demand for short-term rentals. As a result, 17% of Greece’s visitors came from the U.S.A. In fact, according to AirDNA, this was the fifth-best result in Europe. A portion of these visitors were Greek expatriates of second or even third generation who finally took the chance to visit their homeland for the first time in their lives. This had a significant effect on sales of holiday homes as well, which is often the case in the secondary housing market. People who visit a beautiful location for holidays often research the property market as well, so they can buy the house of their dreams.
German Buyers Increase
The same can be said for visitors from Germany, who also form part of a big “pool” of holiday home buyers in Greece. Elxis’s data from 2022 had shown a “boom” in holiday home buyers from Germany, with a 300% rise compared to 2021. Expatriates played a major role in this increase, returning back to Greece in search of a property to enjoy during their summer holidays.
About Elxis
Elxis is an elite provider of realty and legal services in the Greek market. With offices in Thessaloniki, Crete, and Utrecht in the Netherlands and a team of highly qualified property professionals, Elxis has a track record of over 30 years of experience in managing residential property investments. The company covers the needs of its international clientele in the best way possible, with a team of seven legal experts, as well as with personnel whose native language is English, Dutch, and German.
