Significantly increased transaction volume appears in the first half of 2024, with the value of sales increasing by 90% compared to the corresponding period of 2023. At the same time, according to Greece Sotheby's International Realty, demand increased by about 11% in the first two quarters of the fiscal year, while the number of nominations remained unchanged from the same period in 2023.

The above data represents a natural adjustment by sellers to more realistic valuations of their portfolio and also marks a partial return to normality compared to the previous two years, a period during which buyers were quite hesitant amid wider geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.

The dramatic easing of inflationary pressures played an important role in the improvement in buyers' expectations, as key markets such as the US, the UK, and the European Union managed to tame inflation, which reached 30-year highs for the first time, causing global concern.

Following the trends of the previous years, the US market took the lead in demand, moving at the same level as in the first half of last year. What is worth highlighting at this point is that in second place climbs domestic demand from the Greek market, leaving the UK in third place.

And the growth rate of interest from Greece showed an impressive increase, reaching 67%, while the corresponding figure for the UK was +24%. In fourth place was the French market, remaining at the same level of demand as in the first half of 2023.

As expected, demand from the German market saw a significant decline of 23% due to the major crisis that has been plaguing the real estate market in the country for two years with historically low consumer sentiment indicators.

On the basis of the first half-year figures, Savvas Savvaidis, President & CEO of Sotheby's International Realty, said the following:

"Looking through a long-term perspective at the figures of the first two quarters, we have seen sellers' property owners readjusting their selling prices to more realistic positions and being more flexible in their sales negotiations. This is the first time in a long time that we have seen such a high rate of conversion of suggestions to sales, and this is clearly due to buyers both being in the mood to buy and at the same time being able to close purchase agreements at reasonable prices."

At the same time, he added, "It is worth bearing in mind that the buying mood in the luxury holiday home sector is highly volatile. A significant proportion of these purchases are impulsive, and our country, having only a 3.5% market share in the Mediterranean in this category, is far from being considered an established destination for ultra-high-net-worth individuals.