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This is a difficult question because the destination landscape is very fluid and shifting on a regular basis. We see a lot of interest for the popular/commercialized destinations – including the Cyclades and Dodekanisia but we also see a lot of interest for many beachfront destinations throughout Greece. We find that more and more tourists simply want the beach, access to good restaurants and amenities, and to be within 3 hours from the airport. This trend is really opening up the Greek real estate marketplace to regions that were never really commercialized destinations before. We now see foreigners visiting the Peloponnese region and buying up many beachfront properties, many Greek-foreigners investing in their villages throughout Greece, and the standard tourists seeking vacation rentals in the popular destinations we all are aware of – Mykonos, Santorini, Rodos, Corfu, Paros and so on. Greece has so much to offer to so many different types of tourists and visitors – that makes it very lucrative and promising from a real estate investment perspective. It is really up to the real estate professionals managing property in Greece to take advantage of interest from around the world. I also work with agents from little villages throughout Greece who are coming in contact with foreigners from far away countries – something that was very seasonal and limited before joining GreekPropertyExchange.com. Hearing this news from the GPE community is very encouraging and proves that what we are doing at GreekPropertyExchange.com is very promising and impressive for a business just over one year in existence.

You live in New York, but you have Greek blood in your veins. What does Greece mean to you?

I am a Greek-Canadian citizen, now living in New York City. Since the day I was born, the Greek culture was engrained in me, my sister and all my friends I grew up with. We all participated in cultural events and worked hard during the year in our parents businesses to be able to save money and spend a few weeks every summer in Greece, spending every last dollar we saved up. After completing a one-year internship at the European Union Business Development Center in the Ionian Islands, I knew that I wanted to be able to contribute to Greece in some way. It wasn’t until 9 years later until my opportunity presented itself and I jumped all over it. From the outside looking in, there is a lot of positive change taking place in Greece. Although it may appear as drastic measures right now, Greece will come out on top, stronger and more appealing to the international community.

Would you ever come and live here for good?

I never take for granted the opportunity that Canada and the United States has given me and my family and having the ability to maneuver between all three countries makes me very fortunate.

Greece right now is going through some tough changes. How does this situation affect your business and do you notice any withdrawal of customers in the last year?

The situation taking place in Greece is affecting the world across so many different levels. The number one thing I work to focus on with the GPE network is opportunity. If I were to listen to all the negativity surrounding Greece, the economy and real estate in general, GreekPropertyExchange.com would have never been created in the first place. You can’t turn on the television, open a newspaper, read a blog or listen to the radio without some element of doom and gloom tainting the message. Knowing the economic conditions and the shifting legislation taking place in Greece and Europe is imperative – but knowing when to filter out the remainder of the noise is crucial if we are all going to succeed. There is a lot of money around the world and people are still looking to invest and to take advantage of real opportunities. Those property agents and developers who are exposed to the world market and present themselves as professionals and as solution providers will benefit the most. We have seen exponential growth and interest from property seekers and sellers alike. Many Greeks around the world are also looking to put their property up for sale to capitalize on the growing demands coming from around the world. We have seen many interactions across the website, meetings set up, emails shared and a lot of interest generated from the GPE platform that did not exist over a year ago – making it very promising to those looking to sell.

What is GreekPropertyExchange.com, who is behind this project and what is its purpose?

GreekPropertyExchange.com (GPE) is a global marketplace for Greek real estate – bringing together buyers, sellers and renters of property in Greece. After returning from a summer vacation in Greece, I started mapping out what I envisioned as a simplified, centralized and transparent property portal to help better stimulate interactions with Greek property professionals and the world. For a year straight, I worked with my team of developers to isolate the pitfalls of the Greek real estate marketplace and developed strategies to help bridge those gaps. Following that year, we officially launched GreekPropertyExchange.com at the Property 2010 Real Estate show in Athens, Greece in January 2010 – and have seen incredible growth ever since.

In the middle of March this year, GreekPropertyExchange.com held an event here in Athens that gathered professionals from the real estate industry from all over Greece and the world. Tell us a little bit about this event and the results.