Al Jazeera correspondent Nils Adler spoke to residents, activists and estate agents about Exarchia short-term rentals. The district is long known for its left-wing politics<\/a> and its open support for the Palestinian cause.<\/p>\n Tonia Katerini, a 69-year-old architect, has lived in Exarchia since 1986. She said she and a group of neighbours have spent months mapping foreign property purchases from public records. By the group\u2019s own count, Israeli money is behind more than half of the new company-run hotels and Exarchia short-term rentals. Greek City Times could not independently verify that figure.<\/p>\n Exarchia short-term rentals have become a target for activists, according to the report. One slogan on a residential building reads \u201cAirbnbs leave us homeless\u201d<\/em>, while another reads \u201cZionists not welcome\u201d<\/em>. Activists have also splashed red paint on key boxes and facades.<\/p>\n Chrysoulla Papageorgiou is a 46-year-old schoolteacher who has lived in the area for 24 years. She said companies began buying whole blocks after the COVID-19 pandemic. \u201cOvernight, tenants were displaced and apartment blocks emptied,\u201d<\/em> she said.<\/p>\n According to Papageorgiou, migrants and low-income families were the first to leave. Schools then lost pupils, while old bookshops, cafes and grocers closed. She also said buyers in recent years have been \u201calmost only Israeli\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n Katerini said foreign buyers see Greece as a safer place for their money than Israel. She also described the Greek government as \u201cvery friendly with Israel\u201d<\/em>. In August, Greece signed a missile deal with Israel worth US$3.5 billion, Al Jazeera noted.<\/p>\n However, estate agent Vagelis Lazaridis said the reasons for the investment were purely practical. He heads a branch of the Athens-Attica Real Estate Agents\u2019 Association. Lazaridis described Exarchia as \u201ca run-down area\u201d<\/em> that offered \u201ca very good opportunity\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n The district sits beside the city centre, close to the metro and to universities, Lazaridis said. Unlike Plaka, beneath the Acropolis, it also has few building restrictions. Once a handful of buyers arrive, others follow, he added.<\/p>\n No official figures break down foreign buyers in Athens by nationality. Still, a RE\/MAX Hellas survey of completed sales found Israelis were the largest group of foreign buyers in Attica. Buyers from T\u00fcrkiye and Lebanon followed. Greek City Times reported in January that Israelis, Turks and Lebanese led foreign purchases in 2025.<\/p>\n Non-residents invested a record \u20ac2.75 billion in Greek real estate in 2024, according to the Bank of Greece<\/a>. The total then eased in 2025.<\/p>\n Activism in the area has deep roots, long before the debate over Exarchia short-term rentals. Students at the nearby Athens Polytechnic rose up in 1973 against the military junta, which fell the following year. In December 2008, a police officer shot dead 15-year-old student Alexandros Grigoropoulos in the district, sparking protests across Greece.<\/p>\n Since 2022, Exarchia Square has been a fenced-off construction site for a new metro station, which many residents opposed. In February, Greek City Times reported on residents blocking the metro site to reclaim public space. Riot police are now a daily presence, Papageorgiou said.<\/p>\n The government is now trying to cool the market. In September, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a higher property transfer tax for buyers from outside the European Union. The rate will rise from 3 per cent to 15 per cent. Lazaridis said agents\u2019 associations oppose the plan, which has yet to become law.<\/p>\n Additionally, a freeze on new licences covers Exarchia short-term rentals and the rest of central Athens. Authorities extended it to the end of 2027 in September, Al Jazeera reported. Properties bought under the golden visa residency scheme can now only be let long-term.<\/p>\n Iryna Rondyak, a Ukrainian-born agent, runs her own agency near Exarchia. She said foreigners made up about 70 per cent of her sales until around 2024. This year, the share is about 30 per cent, she said. State-backed \u201cSpiti mou\u201d (My Home) loans are bringing young Greek buyers back.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone living in Greece couldn\u2019t find a home in the centre. Everything was on Airbnb,\u201d<\/em> Rondyak said. She described the market as \u201ca little better\u201d<\/em>, but added that \u201cthe problem still exists\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n Even so, residents say the freeze is temporary and does not undo Exarchia short-term rentals already operating. Papageorgiou counts herself lucky, since her landlady refuses to raise the rent as an \u201cact of resistance\u201d<\/em>, Al Jazeera reported.<\/p>\n Source: Al Jazeera<\/em><\/p>\n ( window.advanced_ads_ready || jQuery( document ).ready ).call( null, function() {var $greek2slider4001925147 = jQuery( “.greek-2slider-4001925147” );$greek2slider4001925147.on( “unslider.ready”, function() { jQuery( “div.custom-slider ul li” ).css( “display”, “block” ); });$greek2slider4001925147.unslider({ delay:6000, autoplay:true, nav:false, arrows:false, infinite:true });$greek2slider4001925147.on(“mouseover”, function() {$greek2slider4001925147.unslider(“stop”);}).on(“mouseout”, function() {$greek2slider4001925147.unslider(“start”);});});<\/p><\/div>\n The post Exarchia Residents Map Israeli Property Buys as Rents Climb appeared first on Greek City Times.<\/p>\n![\"Architect](\"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/tonia-katerini-exarchia.jpg\")
Exarchia short-term rentals and local anger<\/em><\/h3>\n
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Estate agents point to location<\/em><\/h3>\n
A district with a political past<\/em><\/h3>\n
Exarchia short-term rentals face new limits<\/em><\/h3>\n
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