On 6 September 2026, at the Thessaloniki International Fair, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that Greece will raise its property transfer tax from 3% to 15% for buyers from outside the European Union. He called the measure a “disincentive”, named Chinese, Turkish and Israeli buyers directly, and framed it as part of a €2.2 billion support package. Within days, the government’s clarification narrowed and delayed it: effective 1 July 2027 rather than 1 January, natural persons only, residential purchases only, with diaspora Greeks and long-term residents of Greece exempt. The Finance Minister’s stated aim: “our goal is not to ambush the market”, with the timing set so transactions already in progress can complete under the current regime.
The legislation is not yet published, so none of this is final. But the direction is clear, and Greece is not a peripheral program: it is the EU’s highest-volume investor residence program, with a record 9,382 main-investor applications in 2024 and 7,025 in 2025, per the Ministry’s rolling totals.
What is actually changing
The Golden Visa law itself is untouched. The structure set by Law 5100/2024 stands: €800,000 in Attica, Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini and the larger islands; €400,000 elsewhere; and, within the real estate route, €250,000 for commercial-to-residential conversions and listed restorations, with the change of use certified before the application is filed.
Every real estate investor in the program is a third-country national, so unless the legislation carves out an exemption, the new rate applies across the route. On a €250,000 conversion, transfer tax rises from €7,500 to €37,500. One question is unresolved, and it matters most at this tier: the measure covers residential purchases and officially excludes commercial property, yet a conversion is the purchase of a commercial building being turned into housing. How the €250,000 route is treated is the point to watch as the rules take shape.
Two dates compound the picture. Greece’s suspension of 24% VAT on new-builds is slated to lapse at the end of 2026 unless extended. And the tax falls due at transfer of ownership, which makes 30 June 2027 a completion deadline, not a decision deadline.
The rules were already tightening
Over the past two years Greece has steadily hardened the program’s terms. Law 5100/2024 limited each application to a single property, set a 120 square metre minimum at the €400,000 and €800,000 tiers, and banned short-term letting of Golden Visa properties, with €50,000 fines and permit revocation.
An April 2026 Ministry circular went further: it defined the letting ban as stays under 60 days, confirmed that a management company does not shield the owner, and, significantly for resale strategy, confirmed that a converted property can support a Golden Visa only once at €250,000. A subsequent buyer must meet the higher thresholds.
The result is a program whose €250,000 entry point remains among the lowest in Europe, on terms that demand far more diligence than the market grew used to.
What it means for the industry
A defined window, then a more expensive market. Complete ownership transfer before 1 July 2027 and transact at 3%; from that date, the same purchase carries five times the tax. The government has said openly that the runway exists so transactions in progress can complete, which is as clear an invitation to act as a government is likely to issue. Expect demand to pull forward through the first half of 2027, then a real test of price sensitivity. Applications had already fallen roughly 43% year on year in early 2026; higher acquisition costs will not reverse that on their own.
The economics shift toward €250,000. At €800,000 plus €120,000 in tax, the high-demand zone approaches €1 million all-in. The conversion route, even at the new rate, remains a fraction of that. If the legislation passes as announced, the case for conversions strengthens rather than weakens.
The policy tension at €250,000. The stated objective is to ease competition for homes Greeks want to buy. Yet the €250,000 route exists to turn commercial buildings into housing: it adds supply. As our President, Nicolas Laurin, put it: “If the objective is more housing supply, why make conversions harder?” The clarification has already shown the government willing to carve out categories, from legal entities to diaspora buyers. The drafting will have to resolve the conversion question one way or the other; no exemption can be relied upon until it does.
A shrinking field. Spain closed its real estate Golden Visa in April 2025; Portugal removed real estate in 2023. Greece now stands as the largest remaining real estate residence program in the EU, restructuring its terms rather than closing its doors.
Uncertainty is itself a cost. Whether existing permit holders and dual nationals fall within scope, and how transactions already underway are treated, stays open until the bill is published. Greek lawyers have questioned the measure’s compatibility with EU law, and industry voices are lobbying for targeted exemptions. None of it can be relied upon. Historically, approved Greek files have been assessed under the rules in force at filing, which is why acting under known rules has repeatedly proven wiser than waiting for unknown ones.
Compliance is now the differentiator. Single-property rules, letting restrictions, one-time use of conversions, documented funds and certification before filing all reward operators who control their product end to end. The questions clients ask are getting harder, and the value of partners who answer with documents rather than assurances is rising.
The bottom line
Greece remains open, and the €250,000 conversion tier, where our own Greece offering sits, is where the economics now point. What has changed is the cost of delay: complete before 1 July 2027 and the transfer tax is €7,500; after, €37,500. The window is dated. Once it closes, the terms belong to the legislation.
Click here to learn more about our Greece Golden Visa offering.
This article is for information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal or immigration advice. Tax figures are indicative, based on the government announcement of 6 September 2026 and its subsequent clarification, and subject to the final implementing legislation.