Greek Property Portals for Foreigners: Spitogatos, XE.gr, and Rightmove Overseas Compared

Searching for property in Greece from abroad starts online, and for most international buyers it starts badly — stuck with international aggregators that show incomplete listings, or unable to navigate Greek-language local portals. There are really three platforms that matter for searching Greek real estate, and each serves a different purpose. Here's how they compare and when to use each.

Spitogatos: The Dominant Local Portal

Spitogatos is the Greek property portal. It dominates over 90% of local digital real estate traffic and, along with its sister platforms Spiti24 and To Spiti Mou (all part of the same network), holds over 400,000 active listings covering apartments, houses, land, and commercial properties across every region and island.

English support: Spitogatos has a fully functional English-language interface at spitogatos.gr/en. You can filter by property type, region, price, size, number of rooms, and other parameters — the English version is not a stripped-down translation but a proper interface that gives you access to the same inventory as the Greek version. If you're serious about searching Greek property from abroad, this is your primary tool.

What makes it useful for international buyers:

• The Spitogatos Price Index (SPI) publishes regional asking-price data, letting you benchmark whether a property is priced at, above, or below the local norm
• Listings include floor plans and multiple photos at higher rates than comparable platforms
• Agents and individual sellers both list here, giving you broad market coverage
• Map-based search allows you to draw a search area rather than selecting by administrative region — useful for coastal areas where village names mean little to you but proximity to a specific beach or town does

What to know: The vast majority of listings are from registered agents, not private sellers. This means you'll typically be dealing with the buyer's commission structure described in our agent fees guide. Off-market and direct-from-owner deals are rare on Spitogatos.

XE.gr (Chrysi Efkairia): The Direct-from-Owner Alternative

XE.gr (Χρυσή Ευκαιρία — "Golden Opportunity") is Greece's general classifieds portal with a highly active real estate section. It functions more like Craigslist or Gumtree than a dedicated property platform, which means it's used heavily by private individuals selling without an agent.

English support: XE.gr is primarily Greek-language. The interface has partial English support, and Chrome's automatic translation makes it more navigable — but it's not a native English experience the way Spitogatos is. With some patience and browser translation, international buyers do successfully use it.

What makes it useful for international buyers:

• Because sellers post directly, you can find off-market properties and direct-from-owner deals that aren't on Spitogatos or agency sites
• Private sellers often list at lower prices — they're not paying agency commission, and some are motivated to save on fees
• For experienced buyers who understand the process well enough to proceed without an agent's facilitation, XE.gr can save the 2% buyer's commission

What to know: The absence of agent oversight cuts both ways. While you can save on commission, you'll also be dealing with sellers who may have incomplete documentation, unclear title situations, or optimistic pricing with no market comparables behind it. Your independent lawyer's due diligence becomes even more important here. Never agree to anything or transfer any funds before your lawyer has completed the full title and encumbrance search.

Rightmove Overseas: The International Aggregator

Rightmove's overseas section is heavily used by British and northern European buyers during the initial discovery phase — partly because it's familiar, partly because listings are in English, and partly because Rightmove's reach into the UK market means many Greek agents actively list there to attract international buyers.

What makes it useful: Low friction for initial discovery. Currency conversion tools make price comparison against your home market straightforward. The listings are typically from established Greek agencies that specifically court international clients, so you'll find English-speaking agents.

Its limitations: Rightmove Overseas is an aggregator, not a live feed from the Greek market. Listings are:

• A subset of what's on local portals — agents choose which properties to syndicate internationally
• Sometimes slow to update (properties sold locally may remain visible on Rightmove for weeks)
• Weighted toward properties agencies believe will appeal to international buyers — meaning higher-price coastal properties, tourist-area apartments, and holiday homes are overrepresented relative to what's available in urban neighborhoods or less touristed areas

For serious buyers, Rightmove Overseas is useful for an initial overview but shouldn't be your primary search tool for the actual transaction. Once you've identified a region and price range, moving to Spitogatos gives you access to the full market.

Other Platforms Worth Knowing

Properstar: An international aggregator similar to Rightmove Overseas, popular with continental European buyers. Useful for broad discovery; same limitations as Rightmove for depth.

Prian.io: Focused on Eastern European and Russian-speaking buyers, but has English listings and covers the Greek market with reasonable depth. Niche but occasionally surfaces properties not visible elsewhere.

Greece Property Guides (propertyguides.com/greece): Not a listings portal but a content site that publishes regional buying guides, property market commentary, and agent directories. Useful for background research and finding agents in specific areas; doesn't carry live listings.

Direct developer sites: For new-build apartments and villa developments, Greek developers often maintain their own English-language websites with direct pricing and availability. Searching "[region] new build property Greece" typically surfaces these alongside the portal results.

Practical Search Strategy for Foreign Buyers

The most effective approach for international buyers:

1. Start on Rightmove Overseas or Properstar to get a market feel — what the price ranges look like, what types of properties come up, which agencies seem most active in your target areas.

2. Move to Spitogatos for the full market picture. Use the English interface, set your region and price filters, and use map search to explore neighborhoods geographically.

3. Check XE.gr for direct-from-owner listings in your target area, particularly if you have an independent lawyer in place and are comfortable navigating without agency facilitation.

4. Contact multiple agents — don't anchor to the first one who responds. Different agencies have different inventory relationships and local knowledge, particularly for specific islands or neighborhoods.

5. Work with an independent lawyer regardless of which portal or agent you use. The portal finds the property; the lawyer makes sure the property is what the listing says it is, with clean title and no hidden liabilities. These are separate roles.

For a full overview of the buying process once you've found a property — legal due diligence, AFM, transfer tax, notarial deed, and title registration — see our complete expat guide to buying property in Greece.

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