The increase in demand from abroad for the acquisition of holiday homes in Greece and in places such as southern Crete, western Greece and the Ionian Islands, has resulted in a sharp increase in the pace of private construction activity in these areas.

In fact, the increase is several times that of Attica, in a clear indication that residential development has accelerated in areas of high demand for holiday homes.

According to the latest available data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), processed by Elxis-At Home in Greece (https://elxis.com/), a real estate and legal services company with offices in Thessaloniki, Crete and Utrecht, the Netherlands, during the last 12 months, an increase in the volume of construction activity of up to 58.2% was recorded.

This performance can be found in the Ionian Islands, where there was also an increase in the number of building permits by 31.3%, while the increase in terms of surface area was 50.2%.

These percentages refer to the annual comparison of the last 12 months (March 2023-February 2024), with the immediately preceding 12 months, i.e. the period from March 2022 to February 2023.