Amid concerns over housing affordability, Greece is proposing to increase the price of its so-called “golden visas” for those who invest in real estate as a route to long-term residency.
Golden visas
Concerns over the ethics and impact of golden visa schemes have led to many countries changing or abolishing programmes. Greece remains one of the few nations where it is possible for third-country nationals to buy residency through investment. The island nation of under 11,000,000 inhabitants has granted more than 17,500 golden visas since 2018, 61% of which were to Chinese citizens, according to migration ministry figures.
The Greek scheme was born in 2013 during a decade of financial woes. Intended to bring in much needed currency, it offered five years’ residency, free Schengen zone movement, and eventual citizenship to investors of €400,000 or more in government or private bonds and shares, or to those who put at least €250,000 into property.
Property
Property became the preferred route in but critics of the programme say the large numbers of wealthy incomers have led to soaring house prices in some areas, pushing locals out of the market. According to the CEO of Greece’s E-Real Estates Network, Themistoklis Bakas, house prices for new-build properties in Attica went up over the five years to 2023 by a whopping 71%. The increases mean “permanent residents with their current economic conditions cannot purchase a home to meet their housing needs,” said Bakas.
In response to the problem, the government has already raised the minimum threshold for residency-driven real estate investment to €500,000 in some parts of Athens, Mykonos, Santorini and Thessaloniki. The new plans put to parliament in February by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, would push the minimum investment to €800,000. Intended to apply to purchases in locations facing a lack of affordable housing and rentals, the scheme would tackle rent hikes of 40% in some areas, Mitsotakis said.
A development tool?
Greece’s economy benefited to the tune of €4.3 billion between 2021 and 2023 from the scheme and golden visa house purchases make up 7% of real estate sales. Ironically, these figures are likely to be surpassed by a surge in visa demand caused by Mitsotakis’s announcement of the new limit.
Bakas suggests a more nuanced approach, where the scheme could be used “properly” as a “development tool” and even lowered to drive investment and employment in small villages and stricken regions. To incite the real estate market in Thessaly, which suffered from severe flooding in 2023, he says “the investment limit should be set at €200,000 for the next year.”
