Increased demand from foreign buyers towards the Greek holiday home market, in places like the southern part of Crete, the Western part of Greece and the Ionian Islands, has significantly increased the pasts of private construction activity in these areas. In fact, this increase is multiple times higher than the Attica region, in what is a clear indication that development of newly built holiday homes is accelerating in locations where demand is growing fast.
According to the latest available data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority, which was compiled by Elxis-At Home in Greece, the volume of private construction activity in these places has grown by up to 58.2% over the past 12 months. This percentage was noted in the case of the Ionian Islands prefecture, where the number of building permits also grew by 31.3%, which the increase, based on the surface area, rose by 50.2%. These percentages are based on the annual comparison of the past 12 months (March 2023 – February 2024), versus the previous period, i.e. from March 2022 up to February of 2023.
Over the same period, the growth in the volume of construction activity in Crete reached 37.4%, while in Western Greece it grew by 38.1%. In fact, over the first two months of 2024, this increase has been even more notable, with volume in the Ionian Islands growing by 157.4% year-on-year, in Crete by 73.8% and in Western Greece by 21.4%. During the same time, the volume of construction activity in Attica, was in fact lower by 3.4%.
Both Crete and Western Greece are locations, where Elxis, a specialized holiday home market expert based in the Netherlands, has pinpointed as places of increased buying interest, which has grown even more during the first half of 2024. Areas in the south of Crete, with a view to the Libyan Sea, but also in the mainland part of Western Greece, from Preveza and Igoumenitsa in the north, to Paleros and Mitika of Aetolia-Acarnania, i.e. the whole area, which is overlooking the Ionian Sea, are “hotspots” among foreign buyers of holiday homes.
Commenting on these developments, Mr. George Gavriilidis, CEO of Elxis, said that “we too are witnessing the intensification of investment in new holiday home construction, to cater to the rising demand from abroad. In fact, since the start of 2024, our clients, many of whom are coming from the markets of Northwestern Europe, prefer holiday homes of higher specifications, which also cost more. Prices have gone up as well, by around 8% – 10%”, he noted.
In fact, this is also evident in the Bank of Greece’s house price indexes. During the first quarter of 2024, prices in the provincial parts of Greece with tourist activity, grew by 12.1%, compared to the same period of last year. Over the same period, prices in Attica rose by 9.4%, while in other major cities, house prices grew by 10.3%. This is first instance where such a trend is noted, whereby house price growth is higher outside of Attica.
Besides higher sale prices, holiday home construction companies are also highly motivated to increase investments, by the fact that more and more buyers, prefer to purchase off plan properties. This is another one of the main trends that Elxis has highlighted in many instances over the past couple of years. Off plan purchases lower construction companies’ risk, since a new complex of holiday homes can be fully sold prior to the start of construction. As a result, it’s expected that new holiday homes construction pace will keep growing in the near future.
About Elxis
Elxis is an elite provider of realty and legal services in the Greek market. With offices in Thessaloniki, Crete and Utrecht in the Netherlands and a team of highly qualified property professionals, Elxis has a track record of over 30 years of experience in managing residential property investments. The company covers the needs of its international clientele in the best way possible, with a team of seven legal experts, as well as with personnel whose native spoken language is English, Dutch and German.
