According to EU Helpers, statistics from the Greek Ministry of Migration also showed that 22,298 permanent investor permits had been issued or were scheduled to be issued in the near future due to pending applications.
But according to a source from Ekathimerini, the actual amount is larger because some investors did not stop at only buying €250,000 worth of real estate.
Vasilis Livadas of Green Properties, a property development business, told Ekathimerini that many of their clients went on to buy other homes since their intention was to exploit the market and earn huge returns.
Vangelis Kteniadis, the president of real estate development and management company V2 Development, stated that around 99 percent of investors who purchase real estate in the Hellenic Republic with the intention of obtaining a residency permit rent it out, primarily for an extended period of time.
Under Greece's Golden Visa Program, foreigners can get residency in return for a monetary commitment.
4,231 new licenses were given in only the past year alone, almost twice as many as in 2022.
According to data from Greece's Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, the program brought in a total of €1.32 billion for the nation last year.
Greece's population is facing an accommodation shortage as a result of the initiative, despite its substantial economic contribution. The Panhellenic Socialist Movement's (PASOK) head, Nikos Androulakis, urged the government to halt this plan last month due to similar worries.
Androulakis called on Greece's prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to discontinue the Golden Visa Program and to refrain from using his office as an estate agency.
In August of last year, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that the minimum amount required from foreigners to invest in the Golden Visa Program was raised from €250,000 to €500,000 in certain regions of the country in an effort to make real estate more affordable for Greek citizens.
But Androulakis didn't think that such a move would be a good strategy to address the problems affecting the Greek real estate industry.
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement's (PASOK) head declared that he will launch an opposition campaign to the Residency by Investment plan.