Greek government raises minimum amount required to obtain golden visa – European Union

The Greek Government has increased the minimum amount required to obtain the so-called “golden visa”, a residence permit for non-European citizens in exchange for an investment in real estate, to try to alleviate the country’s real estate crisis.

The required amount, which, depending on the area in which the property is located, was between 250,000 and 500,000 euros, increased to between 400,000 and 800,000 euros, ecopress.gr reported this Monday.

The increases came into effect last Sunday.

Real estate in the Attica region and around Athens, as well as in the center of Thessaloniki (Greece’s second city) and on all islands with more than 3,100 inhabitants, including the islands of Mykonos and Santorini, require a minimum investment of 800,000 euros. For the rest of the country, the threshold was set at 400,000 euros.

Furthermore, the requirement was introduced that the surface of the property acquired by non-EU investors be at least 120 square meters, with short-term rentals on platforms such as Airbnb being prohibited.

Only if the investment is linked to the restoration of historic buildings or the conversion of industrial facilities into housing will the limit remain at 250,000 euros.

The objective of these policy changes is to “guarantee quality and affordable housing for all citizens”, while maintaining public investment.

The program, which attracted thousands of investors, most of them Chinese, increased the shortage of housing for long-term rentals and drove up property prices in certain areas of large cities and on tourist islands.

Despite this, for the president of the Athens real estate agents association, Lefteris Potamianos, tightening requirements for foreign investors is a counterproductive measure.

Speaking to the Efe agency, Potamianos predicted that, instead of alleviating the real estate crisis, the measure will worsen it even further, as it will “considerably reduce” the volume of business in the real estate sector.

Potamianos believes that this measure will also contribute to reducing the number of homes available for long-term rental, since the majority of properties obtained through the Golden Visa program were available for this purpose.

Last year, there was a record demand of 10,214 requests to purchase or renew golden visas, according to data from the Ministry of Migration.

Throughout 2023, 5,701 authorizations were granted, while the total investment was around one billion euros.

There are currently 8,800 applications pending.

According to data from the Bank of Greece, incomes have increased by 20% since 2018, the year in which the country officially emerged from an almost decade-long financial crisis.