Palestine solidarity in Athens: Israeli buyers increase local resentment amid housing-cost fears
Mapping changes in Exarchia
Tonia Katerini, a 69-year-old architect who has lived in Exarchia since 1986, and neighbours have been marking foreign property purchases on a digital map. They use public records to track changes they believe are reshaping the area.
Some apartment buildings appear geared toward visitors: their entry panels display numbers rather than residents’ names, and keypads provide access for Airbnb guests. Residents say short-term rentals are raising rents and eroding the neighbourhood’s character.
Palestinian flags and solidarity messages are visible across Exarchia, where the arrival of Israeli-owned businesses has added tension. Katerini described the Israeli company operating below her home as “nice guys,” while noting the friction surrounding the change.
A faster shift after pandemic
The transformation began with small-scale rentals of spare rooms, Katerini said, and accelerated after the COVID-19 pandemic as companies started purchasing entire blocks. New bars have also spread onto streets that were previously quieter.
Exarchia has a history of protest, including demonstrations after police killed 15-year-old student Alexandros Grigoropoulos in 2008. Since 2022, the neighbourhood’s square has been fenced off for construction of a metro station opposed by many residents; Papageorgiou said riot police are now there daily.
Papageorgiou said buildings once occupied as refuges for refugees were among the first cleared by police and later sold. Neighbours continue to support families living in one building, including helping children get to school.
Buyers, policies and uncertainty
No official figures identify Athens property buyers by nationality. However, RE/MAX Hellas’s annual survey of completed sales found Israeli buyers were the largest foreign group in Attica, ahead of buyers from Turkiye and Lebanon, according to the Greek weekly To Vima.
Estate agent Iryna Rondyak said Israelis made up about 60 percent of her foreign clients when they began arriving roughly a decade ago, often buying office buildings for conversion into hotels. This year, she estimates their share at about 30 percent, as a state-backed mortgage programme for young Greeks attracts local buyers.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a plan to raise the transfer tax for buyers from outside the European Union from 3 percent to 15 percent next July. Lazaridis said agents’ associations oppose the proposal and warned it may not take effect or could be delayed. Homes acquired through the golden visa scheme can now be rented only long-term; a 250,000-euro route remains available for investors converting vacant offices into flats.
Key points
- Exarchia residents say short-term rentals and foreign investment are driving up rents and changing the area.
- An annual survey found Israelis were Attica’s largest foreign-buyer group, but official nationality figures are unavailable.
- One agent says Israeli clients’ share of her foreign customers has declined from about 60 percent to about 30 percent.
- A proposed tax increase for non-EU homebuyers has not yet become law.