Three questions decide whether anything else matters: can you own it, does the register hold, and is your deposit protected. Here are the answers for Greece, each with the law or source it rests on. The answers are written for EU and EEA citizens; where rules differ for other nationals, the ownership answer says so. As of September 2026.
The core answers
Can you buy property here as an EU citizen?
Full ownership. In designated border and island areas the purchase still requires approval.
Legal basis: Law 1892/1990 (border areas)
Is your deposit protected by law?
No statutory escrow or guarantee requirement; escrow and bank guarantee only voluntary, contract with the land registry
Source: borderlesslawyers.com · 2026
Residence
EU freedom of movement; the Golden Visa (EUR 800,000/400,000/250,000 by region, Law 5100/2024) only concerns non-EU nationals
Source: eur-lex.europa.eu
First thing to check
- Whether the engineer's certificate on the legality of the existing building is available and whether the plot appears in the forest cadastre. An entry there overturns buildability regardless of the land register.
All 24 dimensions
Scale 0 to 100, higher is better. Each value shows where it comes from: tied to a published index, own research with a source on file, or approximated from comparable countries.
Law and register
| Dimension | Score | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Property rights | 57 | Index |
| Register | 76 | Research |
| Deposit protection | 25 | Research |
| Rule of law | 54 | Index |
| Freedom from corruption | 50 | Index |
| Political stability | 64 | Index |
Money and market
| Dimension | Score | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase costs | 36 | Index |
| Tax burden | 6 | Index |
| Entry price | 51 | Index |
| Rental yield | 36 | Research |
| Short-term rental | 55 | Research |
| Price development | 89 | Index |
| Demand pipeline | 23 | Index |
Residence and access
| Dimension | Score | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Residence | 100 | Research |
| Exit | 36 | Index |
| Currency | 55 | Index |
| Accessibility | 82 | Research |
Place and building stock
| Dimension | Score | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Climate | 83 | Index |
| Natural hazards | 26 | Index |
| Utilities | 67 | Index |
| Build quality | 64 | Research |
| Construction cost | 51 | Research |
| Quality of life | 55 | Index |
| Healthcare | 45 | Index |
Researched individually
These entries do not come from an index but from research for this country. The source is given with each.
Residence
EU freedom of movement; the Golden Visa (EUR 800,000/400,000/250,000 depending on the region, Law 5100/2024) concerns only third-country nationals.
Source: eur-lex.europa.eu · 2004
Deposit protection
No statutory escrow or guarantee requirement; escrow and bank guarantees are voluntary only, with the contract lodged at the land registry.
Source: borderlesslawyers.com · 2026
Accessibility
1,497 km great-circle distance from Munich
Source: Grosskreisentfernung Muenchen-Hauptstadt · 2026
Build quality
BQCI 12/15 (WB Doing Business 2020) + WGI Government Effectiveness 55,06 (2024), Gewicht 35/65
Source: archive.doingbusiness.org · 2019
Place and building materials
What to check in Greece
Derived from the four weakest dimensions of this country - statistically, that is where buyers lose money.
- Tax burden. The ongoing tax burden on ownership and rental income, and whether a double taxation treaty applies.
- Demand pipeline. Whether there is real demand behind it: migration, employment, household formation.
- Deposit protection. Whether your deposit is protected by law - escrow account or bank guarantee - or goes straight to the developer.
- Natural hazards. Exposure to earthquake, storm, flood and wildfire at the specific site, not the national average.
Developers and projects in Greece
The developer index records 108 projects and 19 developers in Greece without rating them, each entry with source and retrieval date. An excerpt:
| Project | Place | Developer | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County Residences | Acharnes | V² Development | under construction |
| San Diego Residences | Acharnes | V² Development | under construction |
| Aura Residences | Agios Dimitrios | Limar Homes | sold out |
| Project Agiou Dimitriou | Agios Dimitrios | Santheos | completed |
| Project Ethnikis Antistaseos | Agios Dimitrios | Santheos | completed |
| Project Smirnis | Agios Dimitrios | Santheos | on sale |
| The Green | Agras 25 | DKG Development | planned |
| Akrotiriou Apartments | Akrotiri | Euroland Property Group | under construction |
| Project Alimos | Alimos | Santheos | on sale |
| Project Ioniaka | Alimos | Santheos | on sale |
| Project Ionias | Alimos | Santheos | completed |
| Project Artemida | Artemida | Santheos | on sale |
Individual project pages are currently in German; they contain the recorded data, the source and the retrieval date.
All 108 projects and 19 developers in Greece
What the guide cannot do
A country can look good in all three columns and the specific property can still be a total loss. The reverse is also true: in a country with a weak register, a cleanly titled plot can be entirely unproblematic. The guide tells you what the environment looks like. Whether this one property holds up is decided by the review.