On a record run of tourism seasons, Greece is also benefiting from growing interest from the world’s wealthy who are quickly buying up luxury holiday homes during a time when many Greeks hurt by an eight-year economic crisis can’t even afford vacations.

Sprouting luxury resorts have been joined by the sale of affluent holiday homes by the rich with Greece’s reputation for quality vacations growing and as the government has been lifting tough conditions that had made it difficult for films to be shot in the country.

Real estate agents who specialize in selling luxury summer and holiday homes told Kathimerini that 2018 is the best year since the crisis began and with even luxury homes a bargain.

Yiannis Ploumis, Director General at the Ploumis Sotiropoulos estate agency which represents Christie’s in Greece, told the paper that, “We are recording many more transactions of luxury properties compared to previous years, a clear sign of a market rebound. This year both the volume and the value of transactions are showing a rise of up to 100 percent from 2017.”

Sale prices may have dropped in this category but at a lower rate than in the rest of the real estate market. While luxury holiday home prices sustained a 15-20 percent decline since 2008, the average rate of the overall market stood at 45-60 percent. The market of Mykonos, which has become a nearly hedonist heaven of excess, saw no drop.

“We already had an indication about the strength of this year’s demand from the winter months,” saids Savvas Savvaidis, Chief Executive at Greece Sotheby’s International Realty. “Most buyers have come to Greece before, but 20 percent of buyers acquire a property upon their first visit,” he noted, with citizenships being offered to those who buy luxury homes.