REAL ESTATE

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.

Greece is pushing ahead with two luxury tourism investments in Crete and the Peloponnese, worth some 850 million euros, that have been caught up in red tape for more than ten years. Permits are being issued for the Kilada Hills resort, an investment located in the eastern Peloponnese' Argolida area, and the Elounda Hills resorts in northern Crete.

Real estate technology company Blueground has raised an additional $50 million in capital from investors as it pushes ahead with ambitious global expansion plans. The moves comes as investor interest in real estate tech players picks amidst changes in the way properties area bought, sold and leased.

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.

Expectations are dropping among investors and real estate officials about the impact the government's recently announced incentives will have on the construction sector. Some in the business are even calling on the government to change the measures before they are voted on by lawmakers on the grounds that they will have little, or no impact, on building activity and are more trouble than they are worth.

The face of Piraeus Street, one of the busiest roads in Athens, is set to change. A series of property investments on the road, connecting the port of Piraeus with the city center, has been announced for the next two years from investors such as US Hines and Greece's Viohalco group, along with state bodies such as the Athens municipality.