We are pleased to announce the publication of A Market in Transition: The Reopening of Greek Real Estate, an article by our Managing Partner Katerina Papamanoli and Senior Associate Dimitra Electra Louizidi, published in December 2025 in the Hot Topic series of the Legal 500 Country Comparative Guides. The article examines how the Greek real estate market is moving from private household ownership towards professional and institutional investment, and why a significant volume of property is expected to return to the market.
From Private Ownership to Professional Investment
The article traces the evolution of the market from the post-war construction boom and the antiparochi system (αντιπαροχή), under which landowners exchanged land for flats in the new building, to the credit-driven expansion of the 2000s. The financial crisis that followed brought falling values, a sharp rise in non-performing loans and forced sales, which opened the market to foreign investors and real estate funds. Today, the market is increasingly shaped by institutional capital.
The Illusion of Shortage
Although Greece is often described as facing a housing shortage, the authors argue that supply is constrained mainly by structural and regulatory factors: short-term rentals, Golden Visa acquisitions, slower construction, complex ownership structures and dormant state-owned property.
The most significant factor is the auction pipeline. Auctions involved 9,279 properties (approximately €1.1 billion) in 2023 and 12,476 properties (approximately €1.32 billion) in 2024. By comparison, 18,363 properties were involved in the Golden Visa programme between mid-2014 and the first quarter of 2025. Onboarding an auctioned property, from registering title and clearing liens to removing occupants, typically takes between six months and two years, which is why institutional and professional investors have acquired most of these assets.
Why Properties Are Returning to the Market
The article identifies several factors expected to increase supply:
- conversions of short-term rentals to long-term leases, driven by stricter reporting, safety and operating standards and planned tax incentives;
- higher Golden Visa thresholds in high-demand areas since 2024, which are steering investors towards commercial, industrial and storage properties that have been unused for more than five years;
- renewed construction activity, with building permits rising by 20% nationally and 40% in Athens in June 2025 compared with June 2024;
- more responsive public authorities, including guidance asking Cadastral Offices to prioritise properties transferred through auctions.
The Role of Legal Advice
As auction-acquired properties reach maturity and more assets enter the market, the article highlights where legal support adds value for investors: coordinating notaries, bailiffs, land registries and occupants for auction-acquired properties; resolving cadastral discrepancies, erroneous liens and existing leases; unlocking complex assets with fragmented ownership, past expropriation or former special uses; Golden Visa due diligence under Law 5100/2024, including title history and confirmation that a property has not been used as a residence in the previous five years; activating dormant state-held properties; and structuring leases that protect both landlords and tenants.
Read the full article on Legal 500.
For further information on real estate investment in Greece, please contact our team.
About the Authors
Katerina Papamanoli is the Managing Partner of Papamanoli & Partners, specialising in, among other areas, real estate law and property disputes, with substantial experience advising clients on complex transactions and contested matters.
Dimitra Electra Louizidi is a Senior Associate at Papamanoli & Partners, specialising in commercial, corporate and technology law, including M&A, private equity and venture capital transactions. She previously worked as an in-house lawyer at one of Europe’s largest online gaming operators, at the EUIPO and with large corporate law firms in London.
