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Greece must take a loan of €32 billion by the end of the year and the average income of Greeks will decrease by 30%. Meanwhile, wealthy Greeks buy apartments costing or even surpassing €1 million in posh districts of London. 

According to British real estate agents the strong players in the real estate market in London are no longer Arabs but Greeks. "We have always had clients from Greece, looking for properties around Regent’s Park. Their average number was about 3-4 per month, and 15 clients per week can appear in our offices. And this phenomenon started immediately after the outbreak of the crisis in the country," says for Ta Nea newspaper Panos Koutsoyanakis, who is Greek-Australian and is employed in one of the largest real estate agencies in central London, Fraser & Co.   

The districts Marylebon and Mayfair near to Regent’s Park are among the most expensive in London and the prices of the apartments there is deemed to be of the highest in Europe. Average price per square meter in these areas varies between €10 000 and €17 130. According to a study by Ta Nea newspaper a 182 square meters apartment on the second floor in a luxury building on Chiltern Street costs about £1, 65 million and a 75 square meters apartment on the first floor of a luxurious building on Baker Street near the park costs  £575 000 or €652 850. 

The impressive thing is that Greek customers are willing to pay even in cash. "They come to me and say they do not care about price. Money is no problem. Some of them do not even do a market research... Most of the clients put the apartment on their children’s names," adds Mr. Koutsoyanakis. "Cash Greeks” is a nickname that real estate agents in London have stuck to their Greek customers. 

According to the Guardian article many Greek clients in London are representatives of families from the shipping industry and have always maintained links with the British capital. 

Real estate market prices for Englishmen are quite high, keeping in mind that on average an apartment in London in March was worth around £269 971 and most Englishmen cannot buy their own apartment, because banks hardly give loans. The biggest problems are for young people around 30 years-old.