Country homes: Young European buyers are choosing Greece

A new age group of prospective buyers of holiday homes in Greece and with a different selection criterion than in the past, has begun to make its presence evident during the last five years. These are people between the ages of 30 and 55, i.e. not the typical pensioners from European countries, who were until recently the dominant age group of holiday home buyers in Greece.

This results from a relevant analysis of sales data carried out in Greece by the company Elxis, which specializes in the provision of real estate and legal services in the field of country residences. In particular, in recent years there has been an increase in demand from younger people, who approach the acquisition of a holiday home more as an investment and less as a property to spend their holidays.

“These buyers buy more with their minds than with their hearts. Their goal is to place their money in an investment, which should pay off, but also offering the option of personal use, without this always being a prerequisite”, explains Mr. Giorgos Gavrielidis, founder and CEO of Elxis . According to Mr. Gavrielidis, in many countries, when someone buys a villa for the purpose of exploitation, he is obliged to rent it out for the entire tourist season. On the contrary, in Greece, this is not mandatory, since the owner can choose the dates he will use his holiday home himself and rent it out for the rest of the time, making use of the various short-term rental digital platforms. This very comparative advantage offered by the Greek market has pushed more buyers of this age group to buy in different regions of the country, while until recently they preferred the Spanish market.

As the company typically states, in its Sunny Days project in Crete, the average age of the buyers was 42 years old, with the youngest being only 30 years old. The 6 houses of 2 and 3 bedrooms with a price range of 200,000 to 300,000 were sold in 5 days and the owners outsourced the leases, maintenance and cleaning, declaring from the previous winter when they themselves would come on vacation.

The Profile of Buyers in the 35-55 Age Group

“Often these are young businessmen, who have already taken their first steps in investing in real estate in their country and are now looking for investment opportunities in other European countries”, emphasizes Mr. Gavrielidis. They know Greece from one or two holiday visits they happened to make at some point.

Also, a good return on investment is a prerequisite for this buying public. For this reason, they almost always focus on new constructions with swimming pools, in popular tourist destinations, with good infrastructure and air connections. Thus, areas such as Crete and the Ionian Islands are at the heart of such buyers.

Technology at the Service of Buyers

Indicative of the different mentality of these buyers is the fact that sometimes they send the down payment for the purchase of the residence, without even coming to Greece. “They choose based on information we send them, such as photos and videos, or after a video call with an Elxis partner, who demos the property by phone or drone, both in the interior and garden, as well as the surrounding area and view that is offered”, points out Mr. Gavrielidis.