Data from the Immigration and Borders Service show that only 47 investors received Golden Visas in July, 2108, the lowest monthly approval for two years.
The overall yearly intake remains on track but the sudden fall in numbers is blamed Greece and Ireland soaking up Chinese applicants.
Over the first three years of the Golden Visa programme, Chinese nationals represented more than 80% of all applicants. This proportion now has fallen to 60%, due to an increase in applications from, Russia, Brazil South Africa, Turkey and the Lebanon.
The deceleration in Chinese applications isn’t just relative; in absolute terms, Chinese interest is waning with Chinese investors shifting focus to Ireland and Greece, the latter is seeing a surge in interest from China, in particular.
Another factor is that in 2017, the SEF was taking months to process applications, resulting in a backlog of several thousands at the year end. This situation will have been noted by individual applicants and agencies dealing with Chinese nationals. Quicker results were expected.
The backlog has been cleared due to changes in the way the SEF takes in applications but historical inefficiencies will have had an adverse effect.
Approval volumes for the programme have been on a downward trend throughout 2018 with the July figure of 47 approvals triggering only €26 million in qualifying real estate purchases.
The yearly figure is on track at 863 approvals in the first seven months of the year and the government still expects that 1,500 approvals will be granted by the year end - but with the sharp reduction in Chinese applicants, this target may not be hit.
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