Many Americans are looking to relocate to Greece and Europe driven by the rising cost of living, inflated house prices, and a surging dollar says a report in Bloomberg.
It notes that, according to Sotheby’s International Realty, requests from Americans looking to move to Greece rose by 40 percent in the April-to-June period compared to a year earlier.
The report by Alice Kantor published on Wednesday says that the favorite destinations for Americans are Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, and France.
Rise of remote work has made Greece and Europe alluring to Americans
Retirees and the wealthy have traditionally been the prime American buyers of real estate in Europe.
But relatively cheap housing, particularly in smaller cities and towns, and the rise of remote work have made the continent alluring to a wider range of people, including those who are younger and find themselves priced out of the housing market at home, Bloomberg notes.
Greece promotes itself as the perfect country for the post-pandemic, self-disciplined, so-called “digital nomad.” Blessed with a temperate climate, a high standard of living, mouth-watering food, affordability, and a laidback attitude, Greece hopes to become a top destination for digital nomads.
In March 2021, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis outlined a multi-billion-euro plan dubbed “Greece 2.0,” including investments in 5G networks, to reinforce its attractiveness to those who can work remotely.
Expensive housing in America drives relocation to Europe
Growing crime rates in some US cities and political divisions have also led Americans to look across the pond for a quieter lifestyle, buoyed by a euro that just dropped to parity with the US dollar for the first time in more than twenty years, says Bloomberg.
“The rising cost of living has made it more expensive to live in any major US city than in European cities,” Michael Witkowski, vice president of US-based expat consultancy ECA international, told Bloomberg.
“Expensive home prices, as well as a strong US dollar and political tensions, are all contributing factors to the growing allure of Europe,” according to Bloomberg.
Apart from Greece, the Iberian Peninsula has also become a popular destination, the Bloomberg report says.
The number of Americans residing in Portugal rose by 45 percent in 2021 from the previous year, according to government data.
In Spain, which has the largest American population in Europe, the number of US-born residents rose by 13 percent between 2019 and 2021, and demand has continued to rise this year.
Related: Best Cities for Digital Nomads in Greece
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