New changes to help sales of property in Greece
Tuesday 5th of July 2011
A leading Greek Property expert has advocated changes in the tax regime as well as new licensing regulations in order to help the recovery of the property market in Greece.
Savvas Savvaidis, President of the Hellenic Association of Realtors, told the Greek Real Estate Convention in his keynote address that the recovery of the Greek economy would not be possible without the recovery of the Greek Property market.
Changes to regulations needed to help Property In Greece
Mr Savvaidis believes that the Greek Property market does not suffer from a lack of supply, rather that it is suffering from a lack of demand since the global financial crisis. He told the conference that there is a wealth of second homes in Greece of varying types and styles which satisfy the majority of the market demand.
The property guru believes that the Greek government needs to bring the country in line with other Mediterranean destinations in order to help the ailing property market. He suggests that the authorities could stimulate the ‘second home’ market in Greece through a number of measures including:
· A reduction in tax for foreign investors to 5 per cent
· A reduction in VAT on new build properties from the current level of 23 per cent to 10 per cent (the level of other popular second home destinations such as Spain and Italy)
· Removal of the blanket ban on non-EU residents buying property in border areas
· A licensing system to allow the rental of second homes to tourists rather than the current system which allows only the rental of residences that are embedded within new ‘mixed developments’ which Savvaidis believes will create serious distortions in the holiday home real estate market
