University students shout slogans outside the Finance Ministry in Athens, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, to protest rising rents and the lack of affordable student housing. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Rising rent costs are prevalent across many European countries but Greece stands out by a considerable margin. Between 2019 and 2024, rent in Athens surged more than 50 percent on average, which was higher compared to that of other major EU capitals, such as 26 percent in Madrid and 14 percent in Paris. In addition to renting, owning a home is also becoming out of reach for many Greeks, with homeownership sinking below 70 percent in 2024, the lowest ever, from 77 percent in 2009. This jump in rent prices stems from several key factors such as the collapse of housing construction during the debt crisis, the expansion of Airbnb and short-term rentals, foreign property investment and the Golden Visa program, and rising demand during economic recovery and tourism growth.
Following the devastating economic crisis that gripped Greece from 2008-2019, Greece has made a remarkable economic recovery. Much of this resurgence has been driven by initiatives such as the Golden Visa program, tax incentives designed to attract wealthy foreign investors and an economic model heavily reliant on tourism. However, this recovery came with an unintended consequence. As investment and demand for Greek property increased, the housing supply struggled to keep pace, placing additional pressure on rents and making homeownership increasingly unaffordable for ordinary Greeks.
While these measures have helped revitalize the Greek economy, the benefits have not been equally distributed. The needs of ordinary Greeks have largely been overshadowed by the pursuit of economic growth. As housing costs continue to climb while wages struggle to keep pace. Between 2019 and 2024, average salaries in Greece increased by just 27 percent, while Eurostat data shows that Greek households devote a greater portion of their disposable income to housing costs than households in any other EU member state.
Furthermore, the debt crisis has brought construction to a near standstill for new housing. According to a Piraeus Bank report from December 2025, there is an estimated shortage of 180,000 houses for rent or sale in big Greek cities. This shortage of housing contributed to the inflation in rent and housing prices.
Some of the programs used to strengthen the Greek economy ended up backfiring on the country’s own citizens. One of the most prominent programs related to this is Greece’s Golden Visa program. The Greek Golden Visa program allows non-EU citizens to obtain renewable five-year residency permits in Greece in exchange for making qualifying investments in the country, most commonly through real estate purchases. Depending on the location and type of property, investors must spend between €250,000 and €800,000 to qualify. Greece aims to attract foreign capital, stimulate its real estate market and encourage international investment. However, the program has also been associated with rising property prices and worsening housing affordability for Greek residents, as it attracts additional foreign investors into an already competitive housing market.
So why does Greece continue to promote this program? The country has already restricted non-EU nationals from owning property in its border regions and selective strategically located islands as a protective measure, so why not do it on the mainland as well?
The answer is the economic trade-offs that come with it. For a country still working to consolidate its recovery from a devastating financial crisis, foreign investment remains an important source of capital, economic activity and international confidence. Restricting it too heavily could jeopardize some of the very economic gains Greece has spent years securing.
In fact, instead of scaling back the Golden Visa, the Greek government has made it easier for foreign investment to enter the country, particularly by introducing new tax incentives for foreigners. These incentives include cutting the tax rate on investment profits earned through carried interest from 15 percent to 5 percent for qualifying investment managers who relocate to Greece. They view this as more than attracting a few wealthy individuals but rather as a way to encourage professionals to bring new types of businesses and industries that did not exist in Greece before, which could actually work.
Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis addresses a ministerial cabinet meeting in Athens, Greece, Monday, June 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
In addition to the Golden Visa, Greece has an active Airbnb culture, attracting people from all around the world. In reality, however, most of it, especially the aspects related to overtourism, is not well perceived by the general Greek public. Airbnbs are easily identifiable in Athens by the design of their buzzers. Instead of residents’ names, the buzzers show only numbers and a keypad by the door releases keys for Airbnb guests. This surge in Airbnbs has caused residents to write messages or graffiti on these buildings, with one reading “Airbnbs leave us homeless”.
Although the Greek government has since taken steps to introduce limitations on property investments and short-term rentals like Airbnbs through restrictions such as the “Athens Freeze”, which is a freeze on new short-term-rental registrations like Airbnb-type properties in the first, second and third Municipal Districts of Athens, they have done so after years of rapid expansion. Moreover, their effectiveness remains questionable: despite the restrictions, the number of active short-term rental properties in central Athens increased by 11 percent in 2025. With thousands of properties already operating as short-term rentals, it remains unclear whether the government's interventions will be sufficient to address the housing crisis.
A 2026 study examined the Athens neighborhood of Metaxourgio, where residents held a mock “funeral” for their own neighborhood in response to the sheer scale of Airbnb growth and gentrification they were experiencing. The fact that residents felt their neighborhood had changed so dramatically that they resorted to holding a funeral for it certainly makes you stop and think. A funeral symbolizes much more than the “loss of housing” in a neighbourhood. It symbolizes the loss of the old bookshops, traditional cafes and sense of community that was once there. A community mourning this loss is also mourning the lives they had before this change. The very act of hosting a funeral for a place suggests how deeply gentrification affected the people living in this district, extending far beyond the loss of affordable housing.
How long will this continue? Until residents are kicked out of their homes? That has already started happening. Companies have reportedly begun buying entire blocks, displacing tenants overnight and emptying apartment buildings. As rents rose after the recovery from the debt crisis began, migrants and low-income families, many living in basements and on lower floors, were among the first to be pushed out of their homes. The government's willingness to prioritize international investment, even as Greek residents struggle to afford housing, raises serious questions about whose interests its policies are ultimately serving.
Greek students have taken to the streets fighting against all of these developments. Along with the rising cost of living, fuel prices and the state of schools lack of affordable housing has become one of the main topics of their protests. Protests have been held in several cities, including Thessaloniki in the north and the western port city of Patras.
Just last month, thousands of students and teachers marched in Athens, to protest. Engineering student Panagiotis Moschonas, 20, expressed frustration with the conservative government’s failure to introduce meaningful financial support for students struggling with the rising cost of living. He pointed out that the government’s €120 monthly rent subsidy falls far short of covering even half of a typical rent payment and students only receive the money at the end of the year.
Offering the country’s future workforce monthly stipends of only €120 is a move that will set Greece back on the global stage, as this is the generation that will eventually drive development, innovation and economic growth. Without adequately supporting young talent, the country risks losing the very people who could establish new businesses, modernize existing industries and create the jobs and opportunities needed to sustain its economy. Instead, the Greek government should increase the subsidies it provides to young people and focus on guaranteeing access to affordable housing and future employment opportunities so that this generation can build their futures in Greece rather than being forced to seek opportunities elsewhere.
Greece is open for business but at what cost to the people who call it home? A country cannot measure its recovery solely through foreign investment, tourism revenue or rising property values while its own citizens are increasingly unable to afford a place to live. If Greece continues treating housing as an investment opportunity rather than a basic necessity for its residents, it risks becoming a country that welcomes the world but leaves its own people behind.
Greece should prioritize other measures to support its recovery, like investing in affordable housing, supporting its students and their education and supporting young families and creating opportunities for stable, well-paid work. To accomplish this, the government can create a national affordable housing program that renovates vacant or government-owned buildings and converts them into below-market rental housing for Greek workers, families and students. This will create additional affordable housing units, support students and families in need and create jobs to help stimulate economic recovery. Greece may be for sale but its people should not have to pay the price.