Over 3,000 Turkish Citizens Hold Greek Golden Visa Permits

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Turkish buyers are showing strong demand for Greek property, particularly in Attica, the southern suburbs of Athens, Thessaloniki and the Aegean islands, with Northern Greece emerging as a major area of interest.

Official figures from Greece’s Ministry of Migration and Asylum show a significant increase in the number of Turkish citizens obtaining residence permits through property investment in Greece.

By December 2025, Turkish citizens held 3,291 valid initial investor residence permits, accounting for 15.9% of all valid initial investor permits under Greece’s Golden Visa programme.

Turkish citizens ranked second, behind Chinese investors, who held 9,926 permits, or 47.9% of the total.

Citizens of Lebanon, Iran, the United Kingdom, Israel and the United States followed.

Turkish Golden Visa permits rise 160% in one year

The growth in Turkish participation becomes even more pronounced when looking at recent trends.

According to an Enterprise Greece assessment published in February 2026, the number of Golden Visa permits held by Turkish citizens increased by 160% in one year.

Across Greece, authorities approved 8,879 new Golden Visa permits in 2025, compared with 4,535 in 2024, representing an increase of about 95%.

Turkish investors lead in Thessaloniki

Turkish investors have established an especially strong presence in Thessaloniki, where they significantly outnumber applicants from other nationalities.

Official regional data from the Decentralised Administration of Macedonia and Thrace for 2021-2025, published in May 2026, show Turkish citizens leading Golden Visa applications in Thessaloniki with 869 applications.

Israeli citizens followed with 248 applications, while Russians submitted 187.

Turkish applicants also ranked first in several areas of Northern Greece. Authorities recorded 157 Turkish applications in Kavala, 139 in Xanthi, 81 in Rodopi, 18 in Drama, 20 in Evros and nine in Kilkis.

Turkish investment rises from €49 million to €299 million

The growing Turkish presence extends beyond Golden Visa permits and also appears in overall direct investment flows from Turkey to Greece.

According to Bank of Greece data cited by the Office of Economic and Commercial Affairs at the Greek Embassy in Ankara, Turkish direct investment in Greece increased from €49 million in 2022 to €115 million in 2023 and €299 million in 2024.

Investment flows stood at €237 million in 2025.

The Turkish publication cited in the report notes, however, that the €237 million figure covers all direct investment flows from Turkey to Greece and does not refer exclusively to residential property purchases.

Attica, Athens and the Aegean attract Turkish buyers

The Greek property market represents one of the main destinations for Turkish capital.

Turkish investors primarily target Attica, the southern coastal suburbs of Athens, Thessaloniki and the Aegean islands.

The trend reflects growing activity by Turkish buyers in the Greek property market, with Thessaloniki and Northern Greece recording particularly strong demand.

Buyers seek more than Golden Visas

Data on the motivations of foreign buyers show that purchasing property in Greece does not revolve exclusively around obtaining a residence permit.

According to figures cited by the publication, only 7% of foreign investors identify obtaining a Golden Visa as their main reason for purchasing property.

By contrast, 30.8% seek a home for permanent relocation to Greece, while 44.4% want to acquire a holiday home. A further 17.8% purchase property purely as an investment.

Foreign buyers favour ready-to-use homes and villas

Foreign buyers also show a clear preference for properties that they can use immediately.

Available data indicate that 71.7% of foreign buyers seek a newly built or immediately habitable property.

Villas attract particularly strong interest, with 68.2% of foreign buyers looking for this type of property, compared with just 17.2% who seek apartments.

Most foreign buyers allocate a budget of between €320,000 and €340,000 for a home purchase.

Crete and the Peloponnese remain popular

Demand for Greek property extends beyond Athens and Thessaloniki into the country’s major tourist destinations.

Crete attracts the largest share of interest from foreign buyers, at 42.9%, followed by the Peloponnese at 22.9% and the Ionian Islands at 12.7%.

By nationality, buyers from the United States, the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom recorded the strongest demand for Greek homes in 2026, followed by buyers from Belgium and France.

Demand from Australia also recorded a notable increase, almost doubling compared with the previous year.

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