The Truth About Greek Real Estate Market
Greece is at the brink of being declared bankrupt unless urgent measures are taken. The European leaders have agreed on a plan to pull out this country from the worst ever bankruptcy in its history. However, the final decision lies on the hands of the Greeks as the Prime Minister Alexi Tsipras decided to push the issue to a referendum.
The economy is at its bad state and the Greeks are facing financial constraints as banks restrict withdrawals. Nevertheless, as soon as the Greeks approve the propositions of the European Summit, things are expected to ease. Many sectors of the economy have been affected and the real estate is one of the most hit sectors.
“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” ~ Rosalynn Carter
Greek Real Estate Market Trends
Spitogatos.gr, the leading Greek real estate website reports that domestic searches on their site went down by about 38 percent. People are putting their real estate plans on hold as the market is full of uncertainty. Reports add that the annual sales have dropped by 90% and home prices have decreased by about 50% in the last 8 years. This has caused great interest in the Greek real estate market among overseas buyers. Real estate searches from abroad in Spitogatos.gr increase by 60% from the time the referendum was announced and it surged further up to 130% a few days after the proclamation.
Who is the Most Interested in the Grumbled Greek Real Estate Market?
Because of the robust exposure of Greek crisis, more and more foreign buyers are yearning to have a property in Greece. Interest is mainly coming from countries such as Russia, Italy and France that have an historic association with Greece. Other interested people come from the United States, Canada and Australia. The low prices and the hope that things will regain its normality after a while is causing the spark among those people interested living in Greece.
Not All Countries Are Showing Interest
Among the richest countries which have a traditional link to Greece, only Germany sprang from the trend. According to the Spitogatos Group, from the time the referendum was announced, German Searches on Spitogatos.gr have decreased by 5%. This might be due to the fact that the German government was against the referendum. The future of the real estate market cannot be defined and Melachroinos, the Spitogatos owner, urges investors and other interested parties in the Greek real estate market to be cautious. The economic as well as the political situation has to settle for these interests to be translated into actual investments. Socio-political as well as the state regulations matters a lot in the real estate market.