Since Greece amended its immigration law to introduce a policy allowing three generations of a family to obtain permanent residency through a 250,000 Euro investment, its ultra-low price has immediately attracted the attention of investors and immigrants. According to data from the Greek Immigration Bureau provided by the Greek Investment Center, in 2014, the number of permanent residency applicants from China reached nearly 200, ranking second only to Russia. This year, due to the amendment of the immigration law, the number of applicants has surged by more than 50%, demonstrating a strong growth momentum.
1. Is property in Greece worth investing in?
Answer: We believe that the Greek property market is currently at a low point, making it an opportune time to buy at the bottom.
First, property in Greece comes with permanent ownership rights;
Second, Greek property prices have fallen by more than 40% from their peak and are currently at a very low level, with property prices in downtown Athens falling below 3,000 Euros per square meter.
Local residents in Greece are unable to obtain bank mortgage loans, so the local demand for housing is severely suppressed. Once the economy enters a long-term recovery cycle, property prices will bottom out and rebound (a situation that has already occurred in the neighboring island of Cyprus).
Since the Greek policy requires investing in property to immigrate, choosing a property is a necessary condition. Therefore, for immigration clients, selecting a property in a suitable location with both investment and residential value at a reasonable price is the most critical factor.
2. Is Greece in crisis, and is buying property for immigration a trap? Many people say that Greece is in crisis and that the immigration policy is just for the money of Chinese people, which carries risks.
Answer:
1) Every country formulates policies primarily based on its own interests. We must evaluate the risks of this immigration policy from many aspects.
For example, the United States: The EB-5 program requires an investment of over 500,000 USD, and it is a risk investment that must promote local employment. Is this risk not even greater?
For example, Canada: The 2014 "one-size-fits-all" policy caused many clients who had been waiting in line and paying fees for years to waste their time. Is this not a greater risk?
Spain and Portugal: 500,000 Euros for temporary residency, which requires periodic renewal.
2) In fact, if you think about it carefully, it is precisely because these European countries are in an economic downturn that they have opened up immigration policies to attract foreign capital, which is why there is such an excellent opportunity as the 250,000 Euro property investment for three-generation permanent residency.
In comparison, the Greek investment immigration policy has simple requirements, fast processing speed, low costs, no residency requirements, and provides a property with permanent ownership. From a risk perspective, it is actually relatively controllable.
