- Home » Expat News » Promise of cheap Greek property may have sting in tail
Promise of cheap Greek property may have sting in tail
| Published: | 17 Oct at 6 PM |
Want to get involved?
Become a Featured Expat and take our interview.
Become a Local Expert and contribute articles.
Get in touch today!
Become a Local Expert and contribute articles.
Get in touch today!
Property investment agents in the UK and all over the European states whose economies are in freefall along with their house prices are pushing cheap properties with pre-financial crash enthusiasm.
Greece is a good example of romantic sales pitches for its ‘sun, sea, land and imperishable charm’, as stated by a real estate investment company just last week. The company points out there’s a new tourism boom in the country, and notes the Greek government’s recent climb onto the ‘buy an expensive house and get a free residency permit’ bandwagon begun with much fanfare by Spain.
Another incentive pushed by the company points to a surge in Russian, Ukrainian and Chinese buyers of homes over €250,000, the break point for residency, and suggests returns of between 9 and 13 per cent. Property prices in Greece have fallen by 24 per cent in the last 18 months, but experts including the OECD are convinced they will continue to head in a downward direction as they are still 8 per cent higher against average wages.
Another downside is the prospect of a government drowning in debt simply deciding to raid its expat community’s savings and assets as did Cyprus last year. Spain’s new asset declaration law includes savings held in British bank accounts, and it took very little time before Italy weighed in with its own version.
Greece is in a worse state financially than Spain or Italy, and has been teetering over its own black hole for many months now, with no indication that British buyers are rushing to claim their bargain homes in the sun. France, it seems, is seen as a safer haven in financial terms, and any subsequent moves by Greece to tax its newly arrived expat residents would likely cause a mass exodus of capital.
Greece is a good example of romantic sales pitches for its ‘sun, sea, land and imperishable charm’, as stated by a real estate investment company just last week. The company points out there’s a new tourism boom in the country, and notes the Greek government’s recent climb onto the ‘buy an expensive house and get a free residency permit’ bandwagon begun with much fanfare by Spain.
Another incentive pushed by the company points to a surge in Russian, Ukrainian and Chinese buyers of homes over €250,000, the break point for residency, and suggests returns of between 9 and 13 per cent. Property prices in Greece have fallen by 24 per cent in the last 18 months, but experts including the OECD are convinced they will continue to head in a downward direction as they are still 8 per cent higher against average wages.
Another downside is the prospect of a government drowning in debt simply deciding to raid its expat community’s savings and assets as did Cyprus last year. Spain’s new asset declaration law includes savings held in British bank accounts, and it took very little time before Italy weighed in with its own version.
Greece is in a worse state financially than Spain or Italy, and has been teetering over its own black hole for many months now, with no indication that British buyers are rushing to claim their bargain homes in the sun. France, it seems, is seen as a safer haven in financial terms, and any subsequent moves by Greece to tax its newly arrived expat residents would likely cause a mass exodus of capital.
Comments » No published comments just yet for this article...
Feel free to have your say on this item. Go on... be the first!
