Real estate is big business in the Cyclades
Data from the Hellenic Cadastre show very high numbers of purchases and sales of plots and properties on the popular islands
Which Cycladic islands saw the most property sales in the last five years? Most people would probably say Santorini and Mykonos, the two most popular with visitors. But the reality is somewhat different. According to figures from the Hellenic Cadastre, more than 12,000 properties sold between 2020 and today in the Cyclades are located on Paros and Tinos, while the top five spots are completed by Santorini, Syros and Naxos.
A significant number of property sales – in relation to their size – also took place on some of the smaller islands, such as Antiparos and Ano Koufonissi. The data show the internal – often not so obvious – changes taking place during this period in the Cyclades, changes which have a direct impact on the preservation of the islands’ appearance and identity.
As the Hellenic Cadastre clarified to Kathimerini, the picture presented is not fully accurate, as it does not include sales in areas where the local land registries have yet to be absorbed by the larger regional cadastre (such as Amorgos and Kythnos). Furthermore, the data exclude sales conducted before the island was incorporated into the cadastre. Finally, Folegandros is not included at all, as land registration has only started recently. The data are complete for the other islands.
The ranking
Overall, in the period under review (January 2020 – June 2024) the situation is as follows:
• Paros is in first place, with 2,172 registered sales. Each year more than 300 properties are sold on the island. In 2021 and 2022 they came to more than 500. This year, by the end of June, 422 properties had changed hands, which is indicative of the continuing momentum.
• Tinos follows with 2,127 property sales. This is interesting because the island has not really been in the spotlight as a real estate magnet. Most properties were sold in 2022 and 2023 (643 and 649 respectively).
• Santorini is in third place, with 1,873 sales. The legal transactions follow a steady upward trend from 2022, as for most islands.
• Syros follows with 1,508 transactions. As in the case of Tinos, these procedures seem to be taking place quietly, without this meaning that the change is not noticeable on the island.
‘Those who decide the fate of each island are not the small owners and residents, who elect practically powerless mayors, but the investors’
• The top five list is completed by Naxos with 1,355 property sales, followed closely by Mykonos with 1,302 transactions.
As for the smaller islands, Antiparos stands out with 291 sales (whereas Sikinos and Anafi, which are almost the same size, have 63 and 13 respectively). Ano Koufonissi, despite being the smallest inhabited island of the Cyclades (5.7 sq.km.), recorded 67 transactions in the aforementioned period, and Schinoussa had 46 sales.
Changing character
How do these developments affect the Cyclades? What changes do they reflect? Kathimerini asked the opinion of three people who in recent years have actively participated in the public debate on the future of the region: Eleni Maistrou, professor emeritus at the School of Architecture of the National Technical University of Athens and president of the Council of Architectural Heritage of the Hellenic Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage (ELLET), Yannis Spilanis, economist-regional expert, professor in the Department of Environment at the University of the Aegean and director of the Local and Insular Development Laboratory, and Anastasia Psalti, president of the Engineers’ Association of Tinos and secretary of the Municipality of Tinos.
“It seems that the interest of investors has turned to Tinos and Syros, due to the big increase in the value of real estate on Paros, Santorini and Mykonos,” Psalti says. “What worries and concerns me is that those investors have not come to Tinos for what the island is, but to turn it into what they imagine will bring them income, without this being connected to the place. It is something that we already see from both the architecture and the sizes – i.e. the scale of the buildings that have been built in recent years. In fact, investors often buy large plots with the expectation that they will exploit them for large tourist investments, using one of the privileged urban development frameworks that have been created for this purpose.”
According to Spilanis, the increase in property sales in the Cyclades is due to various causes. “The acceleration of land sales and transfers in the Cyclades, regardless of the island and its level of development, is mainly due to three reasons: First, the transformation of tourism into a real estate activity due to the huge increase of capital seeking legalization and the view that the profits must be made in the first phase of the ‘investment’ and not in the medium to long term, as it is through hotel accommodation.
“Secondly, in the effort of the local population to maintain on a short-term basis a stable standard of living in the midst of crises and continuous compression of their incomes, both from their work and from their small and medium-sized businesses. Besides, the belief that has been cultivated over the years that the land outside the urban planning zone – that is, the fields – comprises usable plots of land has significantly contributed.”
“Finally, in the lack of concern, if not the contribution, of public policies that see the growth of the hospitality industry (we’ve seen numerous reports about how many Northern Europeans – among others – are looking to find houses to spend their winters in Greece), and through it construction, as the ‘steam engines of economic growth.’ The policies of the Golden Visa, nomads’ visa and especially the urban planning policy, instead of a medium- to long-term strategy of sustainably highlighting the identity of the islands and strengthening their attractiveness as places of permanent living through public investments, are key.”
Maistrou says sales on Mykonos and Santorini are decreasing, “which is probably an indication of saturation or excessive price increases. On the contrary, they are rising alarmingly on Tinos, Syros and Naxos and some of the smaller islands, such as the Lesser Cyclades.”
“For one, it proves that the Cyclades are favored by the real estate market. This means that land and housing have become a commodity with a stock market value, which is sold at a premium while it is in high demand and then depreciates as interest wanes.”
Loss of control
At the same time, Maistrou explains, the significant number of sales also indicates a serious process: the change of ownership of the island. “The locals, those who come from the islands and live there permanently, are gradually turning into a minority. This has many implications. On the one hand, loss of ownership leads to loss of control. Those who decide the fate of each island are not the small owners and residents, who elect practically powerless mayors, but the investors, who exert pressure to defend their interests. Further, local people and all other pre-existing economic activities, such as agriculture and animal husbandry, are gradually being driven out. We have the example of the woman from Paros who had built a cheese farm and was then pressured to leave because a hotel was built near her. On the other hand, the reduction of a population directly connected to a place also affects the intangible culture. The Cyclades, in other words, are turning into a tourist scene, a tourist version of themselves, as each businessman perceives this,” she adds.
Maistrou believes that due attention has not been given to this development. “The government is not taking steps to stop the absolute dominance of tourism, to stop overconstruction and to protect the landscape. The special zoning plan for tourism which was recently submitted for consultation not only doesn’t address the overburdening of the islands, but it prohibits – until the urban planning is completed – the establishment of other activities near tourist developments that may ‘bother’ it. In my opinion, a first step should be the universal ban of large tourist investments (such as strategic investments and complex tourist accommodations) in the Cyclades, as they have been proven to lead to the use of large areas that under the current legislation would either remain unbuilt or could not be partitioned. However, the mayors of the Cyclades also have a responsibility, and, in my opinion, they must coordinate and convey a single message to the state, which at the moment refuses to listen to them.”
