REAL ESTATE

While four real estate investment companies (REICs) are set to enter the Athens bourse with assets of more than 800 million euros, experts believe that due to positive momentum in the sector more REICs will be formed in Greece in 2020, with an emphasis on residential housing, as thousands of apartments will be taken over by funds and banks.

The construction of apartments on the Hellinikon complex will add enormous value to the project, as outlined by Lamda Development in its prospectus for the company's upcoming 650 million euro rights issue. The company plans to build 10,800 apartments at Hellinikon with an average size of 110 square meters each.

Real estate investment company (REIC) Briq plans to invest most of the 50.7 million euros it will raise from an upcoming rights issue on new property, with the balance going to pay down debts. According to the prospectus, the company has already signed an initial agreement to buy a building located at 67 Aiolou street, central Athens, for 6.5 million euros.

The number of deals being done on office buildings in Greece is expected to hit a new high in 2019, in what is likely to considerably exceed the 500 million euro mark. An increase in the number of modern offices going under the hammer, in combination with higher demand, has prompted a spike in deals being completed in this segment of the market.

The Copelouzos group as the company builds on its presence in the market is been evolving into a key player in the real estate market in Greece by taking projects that worth hunderds of millions of euros through Redex all over Greece while the company has teamed up with Viohalko, which belongs to the Stasinopoulos group.

A 100 million euro investment program is being implemented in Greece across nearly all segments of the market, by the US real estate company Hines which has been increasing its exposure in the country in the last few years.

Further gains to Greece's real estate sector will be limited if there are no structural changes to the institutional framework the sector operates within, according to industry experts speaking at the Prodexpo conference.

Commercial and residential real estate investments in Greece jumped by more than 120 percent in the first half of the year, the fastest growth rate seen across Europe, according to consultants Savills. The increase is mainly due to buying activity from listed real estate investment companies that spent some 320 million euros, versus 120 million euros in the same period a year earlier, on acquiring offices, hotels, and retail stores.

Investors are turning buildings into multi-purpose accommodation units in central Athens in a bid to get on top of sharply rising real estate prices. Hybrid, or multipurpose, hotels are becoming more popular in the Greek capital as the era of quick profits from short term property rentals is coming to an end.

The profile of foreign investors buying property in Greece has changed with a growing number of long term players taking the position of speculators. This indicates that the recovery of the country's property sector is picking up, attracting investors with a steady position in the market rather than those looking for a quick gain, who often artificially inflate prices.