Luxury property turnover soars in January-June
Greeks move up to second in demand for such residences
The volume of luxury residential transactions in Greece recorded a string increase in the first half of 2024, according to Sotheby’s International Realty office in the country.
The value of sales showed an increase of around 90% compared to the same period of 2023. At the same time, in the first two quarters of the financial year, demand increased by approximately 11%.
As Greece Sotheby’s International Realty observes, the above data is a natural adjustment of sellers to more realistic valuations of their portfolio, while also marking a partial return to normality compared to the previous two years, a period in which buyers were quite hesitant amid broader geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.
The dramatic easing of inflationary pressures played an important role in improving buyers’ expectations, as key markets such as the US, the UK and the European Union managed to tame inflation, which had reached a three-decade high for the first time, causing global concern.
Following the trends of previous years, the first place in demand is occupied by the US market being at the same levels as in the first half of last year. What is worth emphasizing at this point is that domestic demand from the Greek market climbs to second place, leaving the United Kingdom in third place. And the rate of increase in interest from Greece saw an impressive increase that reached 67%, while the corresponding one for Great Britain was +24%.
In fourth place was the French market, remaining at the same demand levels as in the first half of 2023. As expected, demand from the German market saw a significant decline of 23% due to the great crisis that is plaguing the real estate market in the country for two years now with historically low levels of consumer sentiment.
Part of the soaring in turnover is trtributed to more realistic asking prices by owners. Savvas Savvaidis, President & CEO of Greece Sotheby’s International Realty said “looking at the figures of the first two quarters from a long-term perspective, we saw property owners and sellers readjusting sales prices to more realistic positions and be more flexible in sales negotiations. For the first time in a long time we are seeing such a high rate of conversion of leads to sales and this is clearly due to the fact that buyers are both willing to buy and at the same time are able to close buy deals at reasonable prices.”
