After nearly two years of rapid growth, Greece‘s Golden Visa scheme is beginning to show signs of fatigue, as the country has recorded a noticeable decline in new applications for residence permits through real estate investment.
According to the country’s Ministry of Migration, there was a 28.5 percent application drop in April compared to the same month in 2024, with 564 applications submitted compared to 790 last year.
This marks the first decline in Golden Visa applications since September 2022, when Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a higher minimum investment threshold, which fueled property purchases as investors rushed to beat deadlines.
The recent slowdown appears to be linked to the new, higher property investment thresholds that came into effect on September 1, 2024.
Between 2023 and 2024, foreign buyers acquired nearly 17,900 properties under the Golden Visa scheme—more than the total number purchased during the previous ten years of the program’s operation. Total investments exceeded 4.47 billion euros ($5 billion) while applications hit a record-high with 8,477 in 2023 and 9,411 in 2024.
This demand spike resulted in significant pressure on Greece’s property market and migration services, distorting real estate prices and leading to a backlog of applications. According to the latest available data, over 16,000 applications are still pending review.
Despite the slowdown recorded in April, a total of 3,477 Golden Visa applications were submitted in the first four months of 2025, a 25 percent increase compared to the same period last year. This is largely attributed to the last wave of investors looking to capitalize on the extended grace period.
Greece’s Golden Visa program under scrutiny
Up until 2023, Greece offered one of the most appealing Golden Visa schemes in the European Union. The threshold for property investments was as low as 250,000 euros ($278,000). However, this led to thousands of properties being taken off the market, significantly raising prices for ordinary Greeks and, in many areas, creating a housing crisis.
The conservative government raised the program’s minimum investment threshold from 250,000 euro to 800,000 euro in certain areas. The increased threshold applies to real estate investments in specific sought-after municipalities of the metropolitan areas of Athens and Thessaloniki.
The same applies to the islands of Mykonos and Santorini, as well as islands with a permanent population of more than 3,100 inhabitants. The rest of the country will see the threshold set at 400,000 euros ($445,000).
Additionally, there is now a requirement for the surface area of the properties. All properties sold must be at least 120 square meters, and only a single property can be bought to reach the mandated threshold.
Properties not currently used as homes will have a threshold of 250,000 euros, the same for listed properties that require restoration.
Golden visas and relevant passports have been contested in the European Union the last few years, as many people accuse the system of injustice in the real estate market, pushing permanent residents away from their cities.
