What changed: one threshold became three
For years the Greek Golden Visa was the simplest in Europe: buy property worth €250,000 anywhere in the country, get a five-year residence permit. That flat threshold is gone. Under Law 5100/2024 (in force since 31 August 2024), Greece now operates a three-zone system that prices the visa by where you buy, pushing the prime markets far higher while reserving the old €250,000 entry point for a narrow set of cases.
The logic is housing politics: Athens and the famous islands were absorbing foreign capital and squeezing locals out, so the government raised the bar precisely where demand is hottest and left it lower where it wants regeneration.
The three zones, exactly
- Zone A — €800,000. The whole Administrative Region of Attica (Athens, Piraeus), greater Thessaloniki, and islands with a registered population above roughly 3,100 — Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, Paros, Naxos and ~34 named islands in total.
- Zone B — €400,000. Everywhere else in Greece that isn’t Zone A. Same property rules, materially lower entry.
- Zone C — €250,000. The original number survives, but only for two cases (below), not for an ordinary flat.
The €250,000 tier still exists — but read the fine print
You can still enter at €250,000 in two situations: buying a property you convert from commercial to residential use, or restoring a listed/heritage building. Both can be located anywhere in Greece. Separately, under Law 5162/2024 the government added a €250,000 startup-investment route (into a company on the Greek National Startup Registry) in early 2026.
The 120 m² single-property rule
For the €800,000 and €400,000 tiers, the investment must be a single property of at least 120 square metres. You cannot stitch together several smaller units to reach the threshold — a common structuring trick under the old rules that is now explicitly banned.
You cannot Airbnb it
Properties acquired through the Golden Visa are barred from short-term rental (Airbnb and similar). Long-term residential leasing is allowed. Breaching the rental or usage rules can cost you the permit and a €50,000 fine — so the “buy it, Airbnb it, let it pay for itself” pitch does not work for golden-visa stock.
What you actually get
A five-year renewable residence permit with no minimum-stay requirement, visa-free travel across the Schengen Area, and family inclusion. Non-property routes also exist — an investment fund from €350,000 and a bank deposit of €500,000 — for buyers who want residency without the property restrictions.
Before you commit at any tier, model the true all-in cost — transfer tax, legal, notary and the renovation budget for a conversion or listed building — not just the headline threshold. That is exactly the gap an Outpost dossier closes.