British Buyers Dominate Ionian Islands Luxury Property Market

by · Greek City Times

British buyers account for 56% of luxury property sales across Greece’s Ionian Islands, where prices for premium coastal homes exceed €23,000 per square metre and a Corfu residence has sold for more than €15 million.

A new report by Greece Sotheby’s International Realty examines completed property transactions worth more than €200 million across Corfu, Paxos, Lefkada and Kefalonia since 2018. The company reports six sales exceeding €10 million across the four islands.

The report, titled The Prime and Super-Prime Ionian Property Market, draws exclusively on transactions completed through the company.

Corfu leads the high-value property market

Greece Sotheby’s International Realty has completed sales worth €138.3 million in Corfu, including five transactions exceeding €10 million. The company says this represents the largest portfolio of completed prime and super-prime transactions handled by a real estate agency on the island.

Read more: Mykonos and Five Other Islands Tackle a Costly Old Problem

Its transactions include the two highest-value residential sales ever recorded in Corfu: a property in Kassiopi that sold for more than €15 million in 2024, and a residence in Nisaki that sold for between €14 million and €15 million in 2026.

In Paxos, the company handled the island’s three highest-value property sales, with the top transaction slightly exceeding €5 million.

The company also recorded the highest-value property sale in both Lefkada and Kefalonia. In Lefkada, its Private Office completed a sale worth approximately €11 million in 2024.

Median prices reach €3 million in Corfu

The report analyses completed sales of properties priced at €1 million or more, using median figures to assess market trends.

The median sale price across the Ionian Islands stands at €2.4 million, rising to €3 million in Corfu. The typical property in these transactions has five or six bedrooms.

Prices per square metre increase sharply at higher price points:

  • Properties selling for €1 million to €2 million average approximately €5,900 per square metre.
  • Properties selling for €2 million to €5 million average around €8,500 per square metre.
  • Properties selling for more than €5 million average approximately €10,900 per square metre.

Homes selling for more than €5 million almost invariably occupy prime beachfront locations, where scarcity plays a central role in pricing.

Prices per square metre range from approximately €4,000 to more than €23,000 for a beachfront property in Paxos. Corfu’s highest recorded figure exceeds €15,500 per square metre.

Buyers negotiate below asking prices

The median agreed sale price across the market stood 9% below the asking price. More than half of the properties sold at a discount of up to 10%, while one in eight achieved the full asking price.

The gap narrowed to approximately 5% in Paxos and in the €1 million to €2 million price bracket, where more comparable transactions provide a clearer basis for pricing.

By contrast, Lefkada and Kefalonia recorded larger differences, reflecting their less established luxury markets, where asking prices often remain exploratory.

Properties spent a median of nine months on the market before buyers and sellers reached an agreement. Completing the transaction required another five months.

However, buyers made decisions relatively quickly after viewing a property: the median period between the first viewing and an agreed sale was less than three weeks.

British buyers account for 56% of sales

British purchasers represented 56% of completed transactions and 56% of their total value, making them the dominant international buyer group. German buyers ranked second, accounting for 15%. Buyers from 14 nationalities featured in the report.

The median buyer age was 53, and most purchasers bought properties for personal or family use rather than investment returns.

Sotheby’s executives stress evidence-based pricing

Spyros Analytis, head of sales for the Ionian Islands at Greece Sotheby’s International Realty, said completed transactions provide a more reliable measure of the market than asking prices and speculation. Born and raised in Corfu, Analytis has more than 35 years of experience in the island’s property market.

“The measure of a company in Corfu is the value it has actually closed,” he said, explaining that transparent transaction data benefits both buyers and sellers.

“An asking price that reflects reality creates a serious and attractive basis for discussion between the two sides, while a property that remains on the market for a long time loses its reputation and, ultimately, its value,” Analytis added.

Savas Savvaidis, president and chief executive of Greece Sotheby’s International Realty, said the Ionian Islands have Greece’s longest tradition of foreign property ownership and one of the Mediterranean’s most established prime residential markets.

By publishing completed transaction data, the company aims to give owners and buyers evidence to guide their decisions. Savvaidis attributed the company’s record sales in Corfu and Paxos to pricing based on actual market data and respect for the time of both parties.

(Source: AMNA)

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