Mitsotakis: "Price "Golden visa" will increase significantly"

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“We expect a further significant increase in the threshold for Golden Visa investment, which will affect all areas under pressure, as well as urban areas and islands,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in parliament on Friday morning.

“The threshold could reach 800,000 euros in such areas,” he announced. – “But we have to discuss whether we want to keep the low limit of 250,000 for areas where there is not much pressure.” He said the government would intervene in the matter very soon, arguing that GV investments should not compete with the average apartment. In addition, Mitsotakis said that “those who have properties under the Golden Visa should only be required to rent long-term.”

The Golden Visa has distorted the real estate market

Program “Golden Visa”, may have poured money into Greece, but it has distorted the real estate market. According to media reports, the Ministry of Finance has already prepared changes that will increase the minimum threshold for novice investors. Over the past three years, through the program “Golden Visa” A total of 2.6 billion euros were poured into Greece, reports the economic newspaper imerisia.gr.

Purchasing real estate under the program “Golden Visa” allowed citizens of countries outside the EU, invest in real estate in exchange for a residence permit and free movement within the Schengen countries. Some 15,000 applications were approved, and 31,000 foreign investors and their family members were able to reside in Greece and move freely, without restrictions, to countries where the agreement is in force.

56% of approved applications concern Chinesethey are followed Turks – about 10%. This was reported by the state broadcaster ERT with reference to data from the Ministry of Migration.

Increased interest in “golden visa” Greece may have brought foreign money into the country, but it also created problems, first of all, high demand for real estate and, as a result, an “explosion” in prices and a shortage of housing for Greeks.

According to real estate operators and banks, there are currently a shortage of 212,000 homes on the market. At the same time, data from the Bank of Greece shows continuous double-digit price growth (from 11 to 15% in the first three quarters) until 2023.

The corresponding apartment price index for the entire country reached 92 units last year, when at the peak of the economic crisis, during 2016-2017, it fell to 58 units.

Set of measures

In an attempt to “correct” the current situation, the Ministry of National Economy and Finance is preparing a set of measures to solve the housing problem, introducing changes to the regime for issuing Golden Visas. According to information received imerisia.grthe existing threshold of 250,000 euros for purchases in the areas of Attica and Thessaloniki will be increased to 500,000 euros, which already applies to the center, northern and southern sectors of Attica, the municipality of Thessaloniki, the islands of Mykonos and Santorini.

Today’s limit 500,000 euros concerns the areas of the Northern Sector, namely Penteli, Kifisia, Metamorfosi, Chalandri, Agia Paraskevi, Vrilisia, Nea Ionia, Heraklion, Holargo, Papago, Pefki, Likovrisi and Maroussi. In the southern sector these are the municipalities of Agios Dimitrios, Alimos, Glyfada, Ellinikon-Argyroupoli, Kallithea, Moschato-Tavros, Nea Smyrni and Paleo Faliro, and in the central sector the municipalities of Athens, Philadelphia-Chalcedon, Galatsi, Zografou, Kaysariani, Byron, Ilioupoli, Daphne and Himetto. The remaining municipalities of Attica have a limit of 250,000 euros, and for many of them – if not all – the limit is expected to double (to 500,000 euros).

Who buys property on a Golden Visa?

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Of the 14,875 requests in the last three years (2021-2023), 8,404 requests for the purchase of real estate under the Golden Visa concern the Chinese. In second place are the Turks with 1,432 applications, in third place are the Lebanese with 775 applications.

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