ATHENS – Limitations on turning investment properties into short term rentals by foreign buyers to qualify for Golden Visas that provide residency permits and passports hasn’t stymied the phenomenon.

The number of short-term rentals on platforms such as Airbnb, that saw whole neighborhoods emptied of long term residents in favor of tourists – reducing supply, increasing demand and spiking rents – is still happening.

The New Democracy government put the short-term rentals under a 13 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) for those who operate three or more properties who are also required to formally start a business.

But research company AirDNA said 2024 will mark a big increase in the number of short-term rentals, with 12,576 in the center of Athens already, up 21.3 percent from the same time in 2023.

The short-term accommodations now outstrip hotels and the demand is increasing as more people prefer apartments and homes to rooms, so much so that more it will surpass one million beds.

That was the estimate of the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE) which said there is, by comparison, 888,000 hotel beds, noting more than 300,000 beds were added to short term rentals since 2019.

The percentage increase in the supply of available beds far exceeds the increase in demand, as well as revenue, from foreign travelers, based on Bank of Greece data that’s tracking developments.

INSETE Research Director Aris Ikkos told Kathimerini that, based on the occupancy rates and the cost of overnight stays, short-term rentals account for an annual turnover of 3.5 billion euros ($3.74 billion.)

https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/real-estate/1242414/short-term-rentals-still-rising/

But the speed of the takeover is also causing problems with infrastructure trying to keep up with it as well as protests in neighborhoods such as the anarchist stronghold of Exarchia where residents are fighting short-term rentals.

It’s also making it difficult for public employees to find housing where they work, especially on islands during the summer where there isn’t enough housing and what there is belongs to luxury groups or short-term rentals for the most part.

The paper said that the government is considering new measures this fall, including a limit on the time a property can be rented out short-term – to 60 or 90 days – and how many properties overall can be short-term rentals.