Golden era for FDI in property

Foreign capital of €12.4 billion flowed into the Greek real estate market in 2019-2025, according to Bank of Greece data, marking a “golden era” for local realty.

In the period from 2002 (when the Bank of Greece began recording the figures) and up to 2018, the corresponding amount had not exceeded €3.38 billion.

Ιn the entire period οf 2002-2018, capital flows from abroad correspond to only 27.2% of the years that followed, 2019-2025.

Foreign capital still constitutes a small percentage of the total volume of transactions in the property market on an annual basis.

In 2025, real estate (first and second homes, commercial income properties, plots of land etc) with a total value of €23.5 billion were transferred, according Independent Authority for Public Revenue figures.

At the same time, foreign investments in real estate totaled €2.05 billion, or 8.7% of all purchases and sales in the Greek market, according to BoG.

Still, the share of real estate as a percentage of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Greek economy, has increased significantly in recent years. A recent analysis by the Center for Planning and Economic Research (KEPE) highlighted the sharp increase in the share of real estate in total net FDI in 2013-2023.

From 7.4% in 2013, real estate reached 33.5% in 2018, and remained steadily above 30% in 2019-2020.

In 2021 and 2022, there was a decline in its share to 22% and 24.6%, respectively, mainly due to the large increase in total FDI, which reached €7.5 billion in 2022.

However, in 2023, its share reached 47%, which caused distortions, as it drove up prices and significantly made housing affordability more difficult for a large portion of domestic buyers.

In 2024, it stood at 46%, before plummeting to 16.6% in 2025, which is due more to the increase in foreign investments overall in the Greek economy and less to the decline in purchasing interest in real estate.

Cre: ekathimerini