Construction and real estate have proven particularly versatile, with considerable potential seen across a diverse range of projects from major infrastructure developments and urban regeneration ventures to luxury commercial and residential real estate designed for the upscale tourism and golden visa markets. To find out more, Business Partners spoke to Sophia-Athina Souka, Marketing Manager at Vitruvius Investments, an Athens-based firm specializing in real estate investment, development and management across Greece.
When it comes to construction and real estate in Greece, business seems to be booming. Tell us a bit about the sector.
Construction is one of Greece’s most productive and profitable sectors, and that’s because it is inextricably linked to the needs that appear, prevail and shape the Greek market. It is the first to feel the impact of developments in the domestic and global financial landscape, but it is also strong enough to withstand this and maintain its steady growth trajectory.
Construction is one of Greece’s most productive and profitable sectors
The field has proven extremely profitable and has demonstrated stable, longterm potential. What makes it so?
As Greeks make up the majority of property buyers, it’s important to understand the relationship between Greeks and their real estate, a special connection rooted in the close relationships Greeks have with their families and consequently with the family home. For Greeks, the sense of family encompasses not only family members but also the lived experience of their relationship and the place this inhabits, the place where the family share experiences and create memories—and this space must necessarily belong to them. Greeks who live in rental properties tend to see these as a temporary solution, a transitional situation on the way to purchasing their own home. It’s also very common for parents to buy homes for their children as a way to help them as they start their own families. Notably, the country’s home ownership rate last year was 74.6%.
Another reason that construction and real estate in Greece is so profitable is none other than the driving force of the Greek economy: tourism. Each year, millions of tourists from across income groups arrive in Greece (over 34 million in 2019) and stay at one of the country’s many—but never enough—hotels, villas and other accommodation options. In this context, investing in flexible hotel units or even hotel rooms is a surefire way to maximize profits while acquiring a property whose commercial value will only grow. We must also note the high percentage of tourists who visit Greece and are so fascinated by its indescribable beauty and way of life that they seek to buy or longterm rent a property here so that they can visit more frequently or move here permanently and become residents; this is especially true among older people looking to retire abroad.
Over the past years, real estate development has become linked in the public consciousness with the Greek golden visa program. What are your thoughts on this?
The golden visa program opened the door to great demand from the foreign buying public, particularly people who were already familiar with Greece as an excellent destination and wanted to acquire property in the country. Under the program, citizens of non-EU countries who invest €250,000 or more in any form of real estate are granted a residence permit for themselves and their families. The Greek golden visa program has been a decisive factor in reshaping and developing the local real estate market, but it never dominated it. Prices were affected, but at the same time, buyers, both Greek and foreign, were introduced to the concept of investment property, which had previously been almost unknown to most of them. In a sense, the golden visa program breathed new life into the Greek real estate sector and made it stronger.
