INVESTING IN REAL ESTATE
Property categories
- Urban Apartments in Athens, Thessaloniki and Piraeus
- Investment tourism (real estate apartments and single houses on islands and seaside areas)
- Premium properties (villas in Santorini, Mykonos, independent buildings in the historical center of Athens and villas and apartments on the coastal front of Attica)
- Hotels and Resorts
- Commercial real estate in Athens (offices, shops, logistics)
- Investment properties to be developed (Land)
Cost of acquisition and yield of Urban Property
According to Global Property Guide, real estate prices are projected to grow between 5% -7% per year in 2018-2019 a year, while rents rise more than 8%.
House yields in Athens range from 3,5% to 4,15% and in single houses, from 4,4% to 4,50%.
Purchase and yield for business properties
Offices have rental rates between 8 euros and 22 euros per square meter.
At high-visibility locations, there is a lack of availability of modern office spaces. Returns remain between 7.5% and 9%, according to transactions recorded in 2018.
Retail rentals are on the rise due to demand from large Greek and multinational companies.
The percentage of empty stores in major markets and shopping centers is still down (zero in high demand areas). Yields ranges between 6.5% and 7.5%.
In the warehousing and industrial areas, mainly Chinese funds are invested in logistics. The absence of new offer leads to upward trends in rentals. The rents are 2.50 euro / sq m / month for industrial use in Athens and 3-4 euro / sq m / month for logistics use, and where the demand is increased, the yields range from 9, 5% to 11%.
Purchase price and return on tourist properties
In luxury tourist destinations in Greece (islands and seaside areas with unique landscape and climate), the yields of holiday homes available for lease reach 5.5%.
Purchase price and return on premium properties
In this category of investment, the majority of these buyers spend between € 500,000 and € 1,500,000 as these properties are used by themselves and their families for either vacation or permanent stay and, at the same time, they seek growth and tourism prospects.
Of great interest are the Chinese, the Russians, the Arabs and the Turks.
The properties start at 2,500 € / sqm when they need renovation and more than 5,000 € / sqm for the coastal zone of Attica and the northern suburbs, near foreign language schools.
The return on properties in the coastal zone of Attica starts at 5%.
For Mykonos, prices are around € 1,000,000 and returns to 8.5%, as well as to Santorini at 6.5%.
Also in the historical center and center of Athens, for independent buildings the prices vary according to the condition of the property and the way they are located. These are unique properties with great growth prospects and the yields range from 7,5% to 9%.
Price of acquisition and yield from hotels & resorts
Hotels & Resorts
Foreign investors focus on prime real estate, distressed real estate and all categories of tourist development hotels and resorts.
US funds and private equity companies, often in partnership with local players, focus on hotels.
However, international capital is driven by high prospects of direct capital gains, interested in real estate associated with unsecured loans or older structures that are offered for rebuilding. The most interesting areas are the Cyclades (Santorini, Mykonos and Paros), Athens, Crete, Rhodes and Khalkidhiki.
The acquisition price varies from hotel to region, tourist infrastructure in the area, growth and expansion margins, etc.
Overall interest is attributed to self-contained buildings and hotels in the so-called "islets" of the real estate, such as the southern suburbs and the center of Athens. The Greek capital, also based on Numbeo figures, is now 2.5 to 7 times cheaper than the other European capitals.
And it seems to attract more and more City Breakers, a sector that has grown by 650% since 2013, while the total number of tourists in the capital (Athens) is expected to exceed 5.5 million this year.
Cost of acquisition and yield on investment land
Greenfield investments are less developed, due to bureaucracy and the overall investment climate. However, there are serious investment opportunities on land with a high maturity rate, where the owners have already issued a building permit and the construction is about to start. There are particularly attractive opportunities, where purchase prices are still low and promising high yields.
