Greece continues to attract strong interest from international investors. Its stock market posted its second-best annual return since 1998 in 2025; its economy continues to outperform European peers, and the Golden Visa programme remains one of the most compelling investor residency routes in the EU.
What has changed is not the destination — it is the decision investors face when they arrive at the starting line. Real estate and investment funds are both valid paths. But they are no longer equivalent ones, and understanding the difference matters more than it did two years ago.
A Programme Reshaped by New Rules
Law 5100/2024, effective August 2024, introduced changes that reshaped both investment routes.
On the real estate side, minimum thresholds rose to €800,000 in high-demand zones — Athens, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini — and €400,000 elsewhere, with a €250,000 carve-out limited to commercial-to-residential conversions and listed heritage buildings. Additionally, short-term rentals via platforms like Airbnb were banned for Golden Visa properties, with fines of €50,000 for violations.
On the fund side, the entry point remained at €350,000 — below every current real estate threshold. The regulatory structure was unchanged: qualifying mutual funds must invest in listed Greek shares, corporate bonds, or government bonds, under the supervision of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission. No new restrictions, no threshold increase.
The result is that the two routes now sit at meaningfully different price points, serve different investor profiles, and carry different operational implications. The choice is more consequential than it used to be.
What the Market Is Telling Us
The broader investment migration landscape offers a useful context. Portugal’s Golden Visa followed a similar arc: for years, real estate dominated the programme, accounting for close to 85% of all investment. But fund investments surged even before real estate was formally excluded in October 2023 — growing 45.5% in a single year, from €86.6 million in 2022 to €125.5 million in 2023. Today, funds represent close to 80% of Portugal Golden Visa applications. Investors were reassessing the logic of property-based residency before policy required it.
Greece is not Portugal, and real estate remains fully available here. But the directional shift is worth noting: as programme economics change, sophisticated investors tend to reassess what they are actually paying for.
Against this backdrop, Greece’s underlying market performance adds a dimension that applies to both routes. The Athens Stock Exchange delivered a 44.30% return in 2025 — the fifth consecutive year of positive returns — with market capitalisation reaching €146 billion and corporate profits hitting an all-time high.
Whether an investor holds Greek real estate or a qualifying fund tied to Greek securities, they are participating in a market recovery that has few equivalents in Europe.
How Clients Are Approaching This Decision
The question we hear most in 2026 has changed. It used to be “Where should I buy in Athens?” Now it is “Should I buy at all?” That shift reflects something real: the rental ban removed a financial logic that drove a significant share of Golden Visa real estate purchases, and investors are being more deliberate about what they actually want.
Most clients fall into one of two camps. The first want a physical presence in Greece — a second home, a lifestyle asset, somewhere to build a life if circumstances change. For them, real estate remains the right answer. The higher thresholds are a consideration, but for a buyer who genuinely wants the property, they are not a deterrent.
The second camp wants EU residency as a strategic asset — mobility, optionality, and a foothold in Europe — without the operational complexity of owning property abroad. There are currently around four qualifying fund options available, three regulated mutual funds and one venture capital vehicle, all managed by established asset managers or custodian banks. For this profile, the fund route offers a cleaner structure: lower capital commitment, no property management, and investment in a regulated institutional vehicle.
As Patricia Casaburi, CEO of Global Citizen Solutions, has observed:
“It’s about building optionality and resilience — not just mobility.”
Two Routes, One Question
Real estate makes sense when Greece is part of the plan — as a place to spend time, build roots, or eventually relocate. At €400,000–€800,000, the commitment is substantial, but for the right buyer, it comes with something a fund never will: a home. The short-term rental ban changes the yield equation, but it does not change the value of owning a well-chosen asset in a market with genuine long-term momentum.
The fund route makes sense when residency is the primary objective, rather than establishing a physical presence in Greece. At €350,000, it is the most capital-efficient entry point in the programme. It is largely executable remotely, requires no ongoing management, and, for investors also exploring Greece’s Non-Dom tax regime — a flat €100,000 annual tax on foreign-source income — the two can work together as part of a broader strategy.
The Greek Golden Visa has entered a new phase. Both routes remain viable, but they serve different objectives. The key is understanding what role Greece is intended to play within your broader plans. Once that is clear, the right structure usually becomes clear as well.