Foreign investment in Greek property passed €1bn in the first half of 2026 as new Golden Visa applications fell 44%, but Golden Visa permits issued rose

Two figures about foreign buyers of Greek property have been reported side by side in recent weeks, and they seem to point in opposite directions.⁵⁶ Net foreign direct investment in Greek real estate came to about €1bn in January–June 2026, according to Greek reports of Bank of Greece data.⁵⁷⁸ First-time Golden Visa applications fell 44% over the same six months, according to Greek reports of Migration Ministry data.⁶¹¹ Both can be true at once, because the two numbers count different things.¹⁵¹⁷

What does the €1bn figure measure?

The €1bn is a flow of money recorded by the Bank of Greece (Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος, Trapeza tis Ellados), the central bank: net foreign direct investment in Greek real estate.⁵⁸ The Bank of Greece statistics pages blocked our requests, so these figures rest on four Greek reports that cite them: Euro2day, Capital.gr, Sofokleousin and Business Daily.⁵⁶⁷⁸

Those reports give €511.6m for January–March 2026 and €515.8m for April–June 2026.⁵⁷⁸ By our calculation the two quarters add up to €1,027.4m, which is 9.5% more than the €938.3m recorded in January–June 2025.⁵⁷ April–June 2026 on its own was weaker: €515.8m against €581.5m a year earlier, a fall of 11.3%.⁶⁷ The half-year rise therefore came entirely from January–March 2026: €511.6m against €356.8m a year earlier, the 2025 figure by our calculation, which Immigrant Invest, an investment-migration industry blog, also gives.⁷¹⁷

What does the 44% fall measure?

The 44% is a count of applications, not of money or permits.¹⁶ It compares first-time applications for a Golden Visa, the residence permit Greece grants to people who invest in Greek property, filed in January–June 2026 with the same months of 2025.³⁶ The Migration Ministry (Υπουργείο Μετανάστευσης και Ασύλου, Ypourgeio Metanastefsis kai Asylou) counts these permits under «Μόνιμος Επενδυτής» (Monimos Ependytis, "permanent investor"), and its August 2026 bulletin labels that category Golden Visa.²ΕΛ The ministry recorded 2,551 initial investor applications for January–June 2026 in its June 2026 bulletin.¹ Greek reports put the January–June 2025 figure at 4,553, and by our calculation 2,551 against 4,553 is a fall of 44.0%.⁵⁶ The ministry revises its figures monthly, and by our calculation the monthly bars in its August 2026 bulletin put January–June 2026 initial applications at 2,589.²

Other ministry figures show a smaller fall, and some show a rise. The June 2026 bulletin counts 3,502 investor applications, initial and renewal, in January–June 2026, against 5,066 a year earlier, a fall of 31%.¹ The same bulletin counts 5,754 investor permits issued in January–June 2026, against 5,607, a rise of 3%.¹ The August 2026 bulletin, the latest, shows investor applications down 22% in January–August 2026, at 4,760 against 6,086.² It also shows investor permits issued up 10% over those eight months, at 8,243 against 7,497.²

Golden Visa permits issued rose 10% in January–August 2026, while Golden Visa applications, first-time and renewal, fell 22%.²

Why do the two numbers move apart?

The Bank of Greece money is not a measure of Golden Visa buying. Its series does not separate purchases by purpose, Immigrant Invest notes.¹⁷ It also covers EU buyers, for whom the Golden Visa is irrelevant.⁹ Of about €2.05bn of net foreign direct investment in Greek real estate in 2025, about €1.2bn came from outside the EU, according to several Greek reports.⁸⁹¹¹ By our calculation that leaves roughly two-fifths of the 2025 total from inside the EU.⁸⁹ The largest non-EU sources in 2025 were Turkey with €214.4m, Switzerland with €210.8m and Hong Kong with €115.5m.⁹¹⁰

Permits also lag applications.² First-time investor applications peaked at 9,372 in 2024, then fell to 7,021 in 2025 and 3,426 in January–August 2026, the August 2026 bulletin shows.² The ministry still had 7,686 investor applications pending at the end of August 2026, down from 8,977 at the end of June 2026.¹² By our calculation from the August 2026 bulletin, only 1,417 of the 8,243 investor permits issued in January–August 2026 relate to applications filed in 2026; the other 6,826, or 83%, relate to earlier applications.² Some of those may have been filed under the lower thresholds that law 5100/2024 allowed for buyers who had committed before its transitional deadlines.³

A rush to buy before the planned 15% tax cannot explain these figures: the tax was announced in September 2026, after the periods they cover.¹³¹⁵ On 10 October 2026 in.gr reported that the property market expects the tax to set off a rush of transfers in the coming months.¹²

Did the Golden Visa rules change in 2026?

The rules in force are those of article 64 of law 5100/2024, published in the Government Gazette (ΦΕΚ, Fyllo Efimeridas tis Kyverniseos), issue A (the series for laws), no. 49, on 5 April 2024.³⁴ Article 64 sets a minimum of €800,000 in Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini (Thira) and islands of more than 3,100 inhabitants, and €400,000 elsewhere.³¹⁹ A €250,000 minimum still applies to conversions to residential use and to listed buildings being restored.³¹⁹ In the higher tiers the investment must be in a single property of at least 120 m² of main space.³¹⁹ Short-term letting and subletting of a Golden Visa property are banned.³ A Golden Visa for a portfolio of homes let long-term is under discussion in the National Housing Strategy 2026–2035 consultation, but it has not been legislated and no amounts are set.¹⁴¹⁶

At the end of August 2026 there were 34,759 valid investor permits, 26,690 initial and 8,069 renewed, or 100,784 including family members.² Of the 26,690 valid initial investor permits, Chinese nationals held 12,664, or 47.4%, and Turkish nationals 5,107, or 19.1%.²

Is the 15% transfer tax law yet?

Not as of 10 October 2026, according to the reports we read.⁹¹² The government plans to raise transfer tax on homes bought by individuals from outside the EU and EEA without long-term residence from 3% to 15%, or 15.45% with the municipal surcharge against 3.09% today, from 1 July 2027.⁹¹³¹⁵ Companies, EU and EEA nationals, ομογενείς (omogeneis, people of Greek descent), long-term residents and non-residential property would be exempt, according to reports, though To Vima says the list is not final.⁹¹³¹⁵ To Vima reported on 4 October 2026 that the bill had not been published, and in.gr reported on 10 October 2026 that a vote was expected in the coming days.⁹¹² Whether the tax would cover €250,000 conversion-route purchases is unresolved, according to Πρώτο Θέμα (Proto Thema) and CretaOne.¹³¹⁵ The reports we read do not say whether Golden Visa holders would count as long-term residents.⁹¹³ Our explainer on which 2027 property changes are law tracks the tax's progress.