Prices of luxury island villas kept high by foreign interest
by Nikos Roussanoglou, ekathimerini.com, 7 August 2016

In terms of square meterage, the price of a luxury seaside villa on the popular holiday islands of Myconos and Santorini can reach six times that of a conventional property on the same islands.

A recent study by property valuation firm Geoaxis, a luxury holiday home on Santorini with a caldera view, for example, can go today for a price of 10,800 euros per square meter on average, while a regular house or apartment in a less popular part of the island will cost on average just 1,800 euros/sq.m.

A similar disparity is observed on Myconos, where the average price of a luxury villa comes to 12,500 euros/sq.m., compared to 2,160 euros/sq.m. for a conventional property. In fact, the study found a top selling price of 25,270 euros/sq.m. on Myconos and 20,400 euros/sq.m. on Santorini.

On the island of Paros – also a popular destination, although it does not boast the same glamorous reputation as the aforementioned – a luxurious holiday home goes for an average of 7,500 euros/sq.m. against 1,800 euros/sq.m. for a simpler residence.

"We estimate that the luxury residence market represents around 10-15 percent of the total pie for holiday homes and is of interest mainly to buyers from outside Greece who are looking for special properties and are ready to pay the extra compared to a regular house," says Geoaxis head Yiannis Xylas.

It is also worth noting that luxury properties have experienced a smaller drop in value compared with other holiday homes over the course of the crisis. Meanwhile, interest from abroad in luxury holiday homes in Greece is on the rise, as potential buyers who were once interested in purchasing a property in Turkey are now becoming more interested in Greece following the recent unrest in the neighboring country.

Meanwhile, the overall holiday home market in the Cyclades islands posted a drop in value of 2.1 percent in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2015. Geoaxis data indicate this is the 11th consecutive half of sliding prices, with analysts estimating the trend will continue through the rest of 2016. They add that the pace of contraction could be contained if Greece remains politically and economically stable, something that would also be of benefit to the property market in general.