Greek architect contemporary house for sale in Athens

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New build marble floored house for sale in Athens - $4.4 MILLION (3.4 MILLION EUROS).

This four-bedroom house over two levels was designed by Nikos Valsamakis, a Greek architect known for contemporary, minimalist structures. The rectangular concrete house, spanning 5,565 square feet, went up in 1989 in Politia, an upscale residential neighborhood in the northern suburbs of Athens.

The airy foyer has a skylight and a bay window that extends to the double-height ceiling. The floor here, as in most of the house, is made of Dionysos marble. “Maybe the whitest possible marble you can extract in Greece,” said Theo Bosdas, the managing director of Engel & Völkers Athens North, who has the listing. A hallway from the foyer leads to a large open room with a dining area and two seating areas, one with a fireplace. Each seating area is roomy enough for a coffee table, sofas and chairs. The space is flooded with natural light from a glass-paneled wall that slides open to a tiled terrace and a lawn with pine, medlar and olive trees.

The first floor also has a study with cherry shelving, a half bath, and a bedroom suite opening to the garden. The open kitchen has custom cherry and white ash cabinets, a white marble countertop, and an electric ceramic stovetop; the appliances are by Miele and GE. Off the kitchen is an informal dining area; a terrace with a barbecue can be accessed through a glass door.

A sleek white marble staircase leads from the foyer to three bedrooms, one of which was recently converted from a portion of the upstairs landing. The master bedroom has an attached bath with a Jacuzzi and Duravit fixtures, a walk-in closet, and glass doors that connect to a terrace. The second bedroom, too, has an en-suite bath and a sliding glass door to the terrace. The house has under-floor heating as well as a central unit; there is air-conditioning on both floors. The basement houses several utility rooms. An underground two-car garage has a passageway to the house. A low wall made of pale brown stones, along with cypress trees and rosemary bushes, circumscribes the lot, which has almost 10,000 square feet of space.

Politia is a tranquil suburban neighborhood sloped on a side of Penteli mountain. The area has well-regarded schools and sports facilities, including swimming pools, a private tennis club and an indoor soccer court. Shopping, from convenience stores to luxury boutiques, is within a 10-minute walk or drive. The center of Athens can be reached in as little as 45 minutes, by public transportation or car. MARKET OVERVIEW A severe recession compounded by a national debt crisis has had a profound impact on Greece’s real estate market. According to Mr. Bosdas, property prices have dropped an average of 35 to 50 percent since their peak in 2008. He said about 150,000 properties were sold annually in Greece from 2002 to 2008. “But in 2011, which are the latest figures, only 11,000 properties were sold,” he added, “so the market shrank by 95 percent.” Greece is therefore the perfect buyers’ market, as prices can now be negotiated and “cash buyers are kings.”

Kostas Dokimakis, a lawyer who owns Dokimakis & Associates on Syros, an island south of Athens, expressed a similar view. He too has seen a drop-off in prime prices on popular Greek islands like Mykonos, Santorini and Crete since 2008, although declines have not gone further than 20 percent. According to Mr. Dokimakis, on less touristy islands like Naxos, it is possible to buy a property for $60,000, which “gets you nothing on Mykonos.”

New property taxes imposed over the past few years, coupled with 30 percent unemployment and pension cuts, have forced some homeowners to put their properties on the market in “fire-sales,” said Arsinoi Lainioti, a lawyer who practices in Athens and in Boston, Mass.

WHO BUYS IN GREECE Most foreign buyers in Greece are from European Union countries and North America, according to Mr. Bosdas. Ms. Lainioti has seen that same demographic, along with South Americans, adding that the home buyers are generally “Greek-somethings,” as she calls them — people of Greek descent. There is a concentration of French and German buyers on the islands, and Russians tend to buy in Crete, Mr. Dokimakis said. Mykonos attracts buyers from all over the world, he said.

BUYING BASICS There are no restrictions for foreigners, except for a few select areas along the border with Turkey. For homes costing more than $104,700, a buyer is required to hire a lawyer, typically costing 1 to 1.5 percent of a property’s selling price.

The lawyer performs the title search, investigates any liens or claims, and finds a notary. It is also recommended that the lawyer hire an engineer to inspect the property and review the building permit.

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