How Many m2 of Property Do Residence by Investment Programs Buy You in Europe?

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Five European residence by investment programs are primarily real-estate based; those of Portugal, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, and Latvia. Minimum investments range from €250,000 to €500,000. How many square meters of real estate does that buy you in the respective countries?

To make the comparison simple and equal for all programs, we have assumed the following:

• The property is located in that country’s prime market. For our purposes, prime market means central areas of the country’s capital, with the exception of Cyprus, where Limassol is the point of reference.
• The investment does not involve special options such as those available in Portugal where lower minimums are permissible in less developed regions or for refurbishment.
• For average square meter prices, we’ve relied on figures from numbeo.com
• Malta’s RVP is not included because a real estate investment alone does not qualify the applicant for a residence permit.

The minimum required investment amounts are:

• Portugal – €500,000
• Spain – €500,000
• Cyprus – €300,000
• Greece – €250,000
• Latvia – €250,000

Average square meter prices in central areas are:

• Lisbon – €4,276
• Madrid – €5,244
• Limassol – €2,735
• Athens – €1,723
• Riga – €1,816

Dividing minimum investment amounts by average square meter prices, we find that an applicant investing the minimum in a centrally located property can afford the following property sizes:

• Madrid – 95m2
• Limassol – 110m2
• Lisbon – 117m2
• Riga – 138m2
• Athens – 145m2

Spending the minimum amount on residence by investment, an investor would get a 53% bigger apartment in Athens than he would in Madrid, and keep in mind that Greece’s required minimum is half that of Spain.

The difference, naturally, becomes more accentuated when we adjust for differences in minimum requirements. If all five programs had the same minimum, say €500,000, the number of square meters obtainable would be the following:

• Madrid – 95m2
• Limassol – 183m2
• Lisbon – 117m2
• Riga – 275m2
• Athens – 290m2

Pound for pound, then, an investor gets three times as many square meters in Athens as in Madrid.

To learn more about the above residence by investment programs, visit IMIpedia, where you’ll find detailed statistics, recent articles, official links, FAQs, and more for each program. To see which firms can assist with applications to the respective programs, visit the Residence & Citizenship by Investment Company Directory.