According to data presented at the 1st Real Estate Conference of the Association of Limited Companies and Entrepreneurship, to date c.20,000 permanent residence permits have been granted to real estate investors, which correspond to a similar number of properties. However, only 6% of the acquired properties are currently being utilized. The majority of nationalities of these investors are Turks and Israelis.
These middle-class investors often purchase properties without realizing the distinctions within the active class and then rent them out to third parties. Chinese investors, who previously showed great interest in this, come from a middle-class background and represent only a small percentage of investors.
The data suggests that the public administration is not adequately managing applications. Although the law requires completion within two months, it usually takes up to 12 months to grant the permit. Although digital submission of applications is convenient, the lack of adequate biometric data collection centers creates difficulties.
Furthermore, due to the competition from other EU states such as Hungary, the recent regime changes in August 2023 have minimized interest in obtaining a residence permit for 50000 euros. This has caused an artificial overvaluation of real estate in areas where the license is valid at 250000.
The conference participants pointed out that the Golden Visa could be an effective development measure if it is allowed to operate freely under a stable regime, bureaucratic obstacles are removed, and issues of delays in Mortgage Offices are resolved.
