Skip Busy Mykonos. Greece’s Holiday House Hunters in the Know Turn to This Alternative.
This peninsular region has beaches, mountains and luxury homes at much lower prices than in the popular Cyclades islands
6 min
Three peninsulas make up Halkidiki, an 1,130-square-mile area in Greece’s northern Macedonia region. Like a trident, Athos, Sithonia and Kassandra stretch into the Aegean sea.
Of the three, Kassandra “is the most developed part of Halkidiki,” according to Theodor Nikolaou, an agent with Engel & Völkers Greece in Thérmi. “Activity started in the 1970s and ’80s, and just continued, especially in coastal villages.”
While lower-profile and less touristed than Greek islands like Santorini or Mykonos, Kassandra still boasts sought-after restaurants, nightclubs and shops, said Ioanna Paloka, an agent with Savills Greece in Thessaloniki. “People prefer to buy here because of the amenities, the beautiful beaches, and the mixture of commercial and residential development,” she said. Beaches including Polychrono Beach, Hanioti Beach and Pefkochori Beach boast clear waters, soft sand and postcard-perfect coastal scenery.
Boundaries
Kassandra is the westernmost of Halkidiki’s peninsulas, and the most populated. At about 128 square miles, Kassandra descends from Cassandreia, its northernmost city, to the Aegean Sea. Kassandra is also the nearest peninsula to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, and its international airport. “It’s the most accessible part of Halkidiki,” Paloka said.
Seaside locations are most coveted for luxury property, according to Nikolaou. They include the village of Sani, on the west side of Kassandra; Pefkochori, on the peninsula’s east side; and the area around Glarokavos Harbour, just south of Pefkochori. “The combination of sun, the blue of the sea, and the green of pine draws people from around the world,” he said.
Kassandra’s most exclusive locations are Sani, the east-peninsula village of Paliouri, Possidi in the southwest, and Pefkohori, Pakola said.
Thessaloniki is about 60 miles northwest of central Kassandra. Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia, the regional international airport, is a few miles further west. Athens is about 350 miles south.
Price Range
Beachfront properties in Kassandra command premium prices, Paloka said. “Most people at the high end prefer to buy beachfront.” Prices range from €3,000 (US$3,243) to €6,000 per square meter, she said. “For €6,000 per square meter, you’re buying about 20,000 square meters of land with a 1,000-square-meter house, a swimming pool, very modern, in a new development by the sea and surrounded by forests.”
For €5 million in Sani, Savills has listed a 350-square-meter home with six bedrooms and three bathrooms on about 17,000 square meters of land with sea views. In a new development in the village of Siviri, Savills is offering 350-square-meter beach-adjacent homes with seven bedroom suites, private pools, and garages for €2.05 million. Siviri, on Kassandra’s west side, is popular with tourists for its clusters of bars and cafes.
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Prices across Kassandra “depend on the distance from the sea,” said Nikolaou of Engel & Volkers Greece. “The closer you are, and the more private the property, the higher the price.” While prices average €2,500 to €4,000 per square meter across Kassandra, they can soar to €8,000 to €10,000 “for the best beachfront luxury property,” he said.
In Pallini, on Kassandra’s east coast, Engel & Volkers is offering an oceanfront hilltop estate on more than 4,000 square meters of land, with nine bedroom suites and amenities including a wine cellar and full bar. Built in 1991, the property is listed for €4,500,000.
The most expensive Kassandra listing in October was a 10-bedroom, 1000-square-meter Sani villa with sea views and a pool for €17,000,000, offered by the Hellenic Property agency.
Housing Stock
In the coastal parts of Kassandra undergoing rapid development, architecture is almost uniformly modern. “There are three types of homes here. Apartments and villas, which aren’t as hot. Multi-home complexes with sea views, which are better. And private luxury beachfront properties, which are at the top.”
Older and even “ancient” properties are common in Kassandra’s mountainous inland regions, according to Nikolaou. “These traditional stone houses in some of the old villages can qualify as luxury homes once they’re renovated, but many require extensive work,” he said. The village of Agia Paraskevi, in south-central Kassandra, has also become a popular tourist destination for its thermal spas and ancient churches.
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The higher end of the market consists almost exclusively of detached, modern homes, said Paloka. “Condominiums make up the lower end of the market here,” she said. “And there are almost no historical buildings in the most sought-after coastal areas.”
Luxury Amenities
Greek and international buyers are discovering Kassandra as an alternative to tourist hubs like Mykonos and Santorini. “The fact that Kassandra is not the islands is an amenity in itself,” Paloka said. “It’s very private, relaxed and peaceful, without that madness. Most of the infrastructure here only appeared over the last 10 years.” For golf and tennis, most locals frequent the seaside Sani Resort, which operates private athletic clubs along with its five high-end hotels. Most complexes also have private pools, according to Nikolaou of Engel & Volkers.
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As Kassandra’s profile has risen, its restaurant scene has flourished, with high-end eateries including Metoxi, in a temple-like stone building with sunset views; “creative Greek” spot Giria Elia in Pefkohori’s Hotel Anna Maria; and Kriopigi’s Fiki Fiki, the first Asian-Peruvian fusion restaurant in Halkidiki. Several private medical clinics operate on the peninsula, including the 24-hour Kassandria’s Health Center and Primary Medical Care of Pefkochori.
What Makes It Unique
“Kassandra is a picturesque environment, surrounded by forest, with clean, beautiful, crystal-clear seas,” said Paloka. “The proximity to Thessaloniki also makes it unique. You’re just an hour from the city centre, but you can enjoy all Kassandra has to offer.”
Kassandra’s annual Sani Festival brings A-list musical talent to the peninsula every year; the 2024 edition saw stars including Placido Domingo, Madeleine Peyroux, Tom Jones, and Emeli Sande on the roster.
Who Lives There
Nearly 40% of buyers in Kassandra are “from central Europe, especially German-speaking countries,” Nikolaou said. “They see the Mediterranean, and this part of Greece, as the Florida of Europe. They want a home in the region to use in retirement.” Another 25% of buyers come from the Balkans, including Bulgaria and Romania, “and other countries without direct access to the Mediterranean Sea. This is the first possible access for them,” he said. An additional 15% of buyers hail from Israel and the Middle East. “Thessaloniki once had a significant Jewish population, and Israelis love it. They want to invest here,” Nikolaou said. Just a handful of buyers come from North America, he added.
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Kassandra’s largest, most extravagant villas belong to Greeks, according to Paloka of Savills. But those owners are starting to take their profits. “Those properties had been second homes, and the Greek owners are now selling to mostly European buyers,” she said.
Greece’s golden visa program, which grants a five-year residency permit in exchange for a minimum real-estate purchase, has attracted “a huge number of foreigners, but to less expensive properties,” Paloka said. In October, however, the Greek government raised the minimum investment for a golden visa to €800,000 from €250,000 in sought-after destinations including Halkidiki, the region where Kassandra is located.
Notable Residents
Swiss-based Greek billionaire Aristotеlis Mistakidis “has bought a lot of property in Halkidiki, including a villa in Glarokavos,” Nikolaou said. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie vacationed in Kassandra when they were an item, and John Travolta and Robert De Niro “spend summers in Kassandra with their families,” Nikolaou said.
Outlook
“Consistency” is the hallmark of the market in Kassandra, said Paloka of Savills.
“Prices may have gone up on lower-end properties, but prime estates have stayed the same or maybe dropped just a bit. What’s key is that it’s more affordable than the islands, and a better value for your money.” Kassandra’s rental market is also “extremely strong, year-round,” meaning owners can generate revenue from their properties, she said. “Even at Christmas, people love coming here. The islands are great, but you can’t get flights there all year―you have to take a ferry off-season.”
Nikolaou, however, said that “the demand for second homes means prices will continue to increase.” He also noted that property prices per square meter “are much more of a value for the money, especially for beachfront properties.”
Investors “are now looking to Kassandra and Halkidiki to develop new tourist areas,” Nikolaou said. “They don’t want to go to the islands. If you count the kilometres of seashore here, it’s like you have 100 islands. And it’s sunny the whole year.”
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Australia’s housing market was flat in May as falling values in Sydney and Melbourne offset continued growth in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.
3 min
Australia’s housing market has lost momentum, with Cotality’s latest Home Value Index revealing national dwelling values were flat in May as affordability constraints, higher borrowing costs and weakening buyer sentiment continue to weigh on demand.
The national result masks increasingly divergent conditions across the country.
Sydney and Melbourne led the decline, with dwelling values falling 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively over the month.
Sydney values are now 2.1 per cent below their November 2025 peak, while Melbourne values sit 3.2 per cent below their March 2022 high.
In contrast, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide continued to record growth, although even the stronger-performing markets are beginning to show signs of slowing.
Perth again led the capitals, recording monthly growth of 1.5 per cent and annual growth of 25.8 per cent. Brisbane values increased 0.9 per cent in May and are now 19.1 per cent higher than a year ago, while Adelaide recorded a 0.5 per cent monthly rise and annua growth of 12.3 per cent.
Cotality Research Director Tim Lawless said Australia’s housing market continues to operate at vastly different speeds depending on location.
“We are continuing to see multi-speed conditions across Australia’s housing sector, with Perth and Melbourne at opposite ends of the spectrum,” Lawless said.
“The past five years have seen these cities diverge sharply, with Perth values up a stunning 91.4 per cent while Melbourne home values are only 3.3 per cent higher since May 2021.”
Lawless said while the pace of value growth remains highly varied between cities, a common trend is emerging.
“While the speed of value change remains very different from city to city, the direction is becoming more consistent, with most markets losing momentum as demand-side headwinds intensify.”
The slowdown is becoming increasingly evident in transaction activity.
National home sales over the past three months were estimated to be 2.2 per cent lower than a year ago and 4.1 per cent below the five-year average.
Sydney and Melbourne recorded the sharpest declines in sales activity, down 17.0 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively compared to the same period last year.
Lawless said higher listing volumes are shifting negotiating power back towards buyers.
“These are also the cities where advertised supply has risen to above average levels, providing more choice and better leverage for buyers,” he said.
The softer conditions come despite ongoing supply constraints across much of the country. Construction costs remain elevated and feasibility challenges continue to limit new housing delivery, even as governments in NSW and Victoria continue to implement planning reforms designed to accelerate approvals and increase apartment supply.
For the new apartment sector, the data highlights an increasingly important divide between established housing markets and the off-the-plan market.
While detached housing markets in Sydney and Melbourne continue to soften, the supply of new apartments remains well below the levels required to meet population growth and federal housing targets.
This imbalance is likely to continue supporting demand for new apartment stock, particularly in major urban centres where affordability pressures are forcing more buyers towards higher-density housing options.
The latest rental figures also reinforce the underlying strength of housing demand.
National rents increased another 0.6 per cent in May, taking annual rental growth to 5.9 per cent. Vacancy rates remain at just 1.5 per cent nationally, matching the record lows experienced during the post-pandemic migration surge.
Lawless said renters are increasingly reaching affordability limits.
“With renters dedicating around a third of their pre-tax income to rental payments, it’s uncertain how much longer this upswing in rents can last,” he said.
The housing slowdown is unfolding against a backdrop of improving inflation data and growing confidence that interest rates will remain on hold when the Reserve Bank meets in June.
Australia’s monthly inflation indicator has continued to trend lower in recent months, reinforcing market expectations that the RBA is unlikely to lift the cash rate again in the near term.
Financial markets and economists have increasingly shifted their focus towards the timing of future rate cuts rather than the prospect of further tightening.
While the RBA remains cautious about services inflation and housing-related costs, recent inflation outcomes have largely eased concerns that another rate rise would be required.
That is providing some support to housing sentiment, although affordability and borrowing capacity remain significant constraints.
For now, Cotality’s data suggests the housing market is entering a more subdued phase rather than facing a sharp correction.
Affordability pressures, weaker confidence and slower sales activity are weighing on demand, while population growth, tight rental markets and constrained housing supply continue to provide a floor underneath values.
The result is a housing market that remains highly fragmented, with Sydney and Melbourne continuing to cool, while Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide remain in growth mode, albeit at a slower pace than seen over the past two years.
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