Business tycoon Charles Worthington is looking to sell an eight-bedroom villa in Mykonos, in what would be the biggest deal of its kind on the Greek island.
The 6,475-square-metre estate – situated on an island filled with luxury homes owned by the likes of US billionaire Todd Boehly – will go on sale next week for €50 million ($53.8 million) through Beauchamp Estates.
The ultimate owner of the property is Mr Worthington, who built a fortune in celebrity hairdressing and sold his namesake beauty company to consumer goods company PZ Cussons for about £37 million ($47.4 million) in 2004.
“Mykonos has a different market to mainland Greece, attracting very wealthy buyers, and this villa has something unique that you can’t find elsewhere on the island,” said Roi Deldimou, an estate agent at Beauchamp Estates’ Mykonos branch.
“You get the views, but nobody can get a view of you.”
The planned sale comes 10 years after Mr Worthington bought the property, which has a swimming pool overlooking the sea.
The price Mr Worthington achieves for the villa will provide an insight into the strength of Europe’s super prime housing market, which is adapting to higher interest rates and a clampdown on cash-for-passport programmes.
“I still expect to sell to an international buyer, because the island attracts a huge amount of attention from wealthy fashionistas around the world,” he said.
Europe’s housing markets have been thrown into turmoil since the end of the cheap-money era. Interest rate increases by central banks pushed up mortgage prices just as a cost-of-living squeeze hit consumers.
But in Greece, a surge in interest from overseas buyers using the nation’s “golden visa” scheme – which offers residency in return for foreign investment – has added fuel to Greece’s real estate market, which is also benefiting from strong domestic demand.
The EU has long pressured governments to terminate golden visa schemes on the grounds that they’re anti-democratic and can serve as a means for dirty money to enter the region, prompting some countries, such as Ireland and Portugal, to ditch their programmes.
Applicants for Greece’s scheme rose almost 300 per cent to a total of 1,262 in the first two months of 2023, compared with 316 requests registered during the same period last year, according real estate data company Recognyte.
Almost two thirds of those applications came from China, a nation with a reputation for indulging in European real estate.
The surge in applications is mostly down to Greece doubling its investment threshold to €500,000 in certain areas of the country – including Mykonos – from next month.
The shake-up to the programme is designed to stop Greek citizens from being priced out of the housing market as overseas demand surges, but could scare some buyers away.
Despite the changes, “it’s one of the lowest golden visa investment thresholds in Europe", Ms Deldimou said. “Super prime buyers do not really care. It’s not a problem for them.”
Europe’s most expensive homes are typically snapped up by buyers who are less reliant on debt. About 17 per cent of ultra-high-net-worth individuals bought at least one home last year, according to a report from broker Knight Frank.
What’s more, the report ranks Greece as the fifth most diverse international prime property market, above the likes of Germany and Portugal, suggesting a wide pool of buyers could be interested in buying the Mykonos home.
Residential property is seen as the safest asset class for rich investors, the research shows, ranking above gold and bonds, respectively.
“We’re looking into buying another a plot of land in Mykonos and starting on a new project,” said Mr Worthington, who also owns properties in Colorado and London.
“I certainly expect to achieve the asking price, and will be waiting for the right offer.”
