Non-residents invested a net €515.8 million in Greek real estate in the second quarter of 2026, 11.3% less than a year earlier, according to Bank of Greece data. Thanks to a strong first quarter, the half-year total still rose 9.5%, to €1.03 billion.
The numbers
| Quarter | 2024 (€ million) | 2025 (€ million) | 2026 (€ million) | 2026 vs 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 520.0 | 356.8 | 511.6 | +43.4% |
| Q2 | 622.1 | 581.5 | 515.8 | −11.3% |
| Q3 | 783.7 | 527.4 | – | – |
| Q4 | 824.5 | 590.0 | – | – |
| First half | 1,142.1 | 938.3 | 1,027.4 | +9.5% |
| Full year | 2,750.3 | 2,055.7 | – | – |
The two quarters of 2026 are almost identical: €511.6 million and €515.8 million, a rise of 0.8%. Both are below every quarter of 2024, when inflows reached a record €2.75 billion for the year.
The year-on-year picture depends on the comparison. Q1 2026 was 43.4% above a weak Q1 2025, while Q2 2026 fell short of a stronger Q2 2025. The first half of 2026 is 9.5% above the same period of 2025, but 10.0% below the first half of 2024.
Over the last four quarters, from Q3 2025 to Q2 2026, non-residents invested €2,144.8 million. That is 4.3% more than the 2025 calendar year, which itself was 25.3% below 2024.
What is driving it
The Bank of Greece series records flows, not reasons. Two policy changes frame the period, but the data cannot show how much of the movement each explains.
- Higher Golden Visa thresholds. Under Law 5100/2024, the minimum investment is €800,000 in Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and large islands, and €400,000 elsewhere, according to the Ministry of Migration and Asylum’s circular. The same law bars short-term letting of Golden Visa homes. The 2025 fall in foreign investment followed these changes. Our Golden Visa analysis tracks application numbers.
- The planned 15% transfer tax. Greece’s draft 2027 budget includes raising transfer tax on homes bought by non-EU tax residents from 3% to 15%. A start date of 1 July 2027 has been widely reported, but we have not seen it in a legal text. The Q2 data cover April to June, before the draft budget went to parliament on 5 October, so they cannot show any rush to buy ahead of the change.
What it means for buyers
Golden Visa buyers
Foreign money is still arriving at a pace of about €500 million a quarter, well below the 2024 peak. Higher thresholds and the short-term letting ban are already in the law, and the migration minister said on 15 October that permits obtained through disguised discounts or kept while the home is sublet short term will be revoked. Non-EU buyers also face the planned 15% transfer tax, which is not yet law.
Rental investors
The figures do not show what foreign buyers do with the homes. For rental yields, the more relevant data are local rents and the limits on short-term letting in central Athens, covered in our short-term rental guide.
Second-home buyers
EU buyers are outside the planned transfer tax rise, and the Bank of Greece series does not split investment by nationality each quarter. Our earlier analysis of 2025 investment by nationality shows which groups the tax would affect most.
Buyers should confirm how tax and residence rules apply to them with a Greek lawyer or accountant.
How we got these numbers
All quarterly and annual figures come from the Bank of Greece series on non-residents’ direct investment in Greek real estate (net flows, € million), published in its direct investment statistics with data up to Q2 2026. First-half totals, the last-four-quarter total and all percentage changes are our own arithmetic from those quarterly figures. The Bank of Greece revises earlier quarters, so figures may change in later releases.
