ACCORDING to the latest figures from the Cyprus Land Registry, there was a modest increase in the number of properties sold during December last year compared to December 2008.
Overall, 763 contracts of sale were deposited at Land Registries throughout Cyprus in December 2009, compared to 792 in the previous month and 624 in December 2008. December is traditionally the quietest month of the year for property sales.
Total sales for the year were 8,170 compared to total sales of 14,667 in 2008, 21,255 in 2007 and 16,953 in 2006.
Over the year, Nicosia suffered the least from the slump with property sales falling by 31%, followed by Limassol where sales fell by 38%.
Worst hit areas are those favoured by foreign buyers – sales in Larnaca fell back by 49%, Paphos by 52%; worst hit of all was Famagusta where sales fell by 56% compared to 2008.
Number of Properties Sales – 2008/2009 Comparison | ||||||||||||
Location | Nicosia | Famagusta | Larnaca | Limassol | Paphos | Total | ||||||
Month | 2008 | 2009 | 2008 | 2009 | 2008 | 2009 | 2008 | 2009 | 2008 | 2009 | 2008 | 2009 |
January | 367 | 101 | 187 | 37 | 345 | 77 | 301 | 152 | 415 | 91 | 1615 | 458 |
February | 349 | 161 | 269 | 52 | 312 | 112 | 345 | 132 | 306 | 101 | 1581 | 558 |
March | 365 | 162 | 142 | 49 | 229 | 97 | 317 | 160 | 273 | 112 | 1326 | 580 |
April | 296 | 162 | 143 | 71 | 296 | 122 | 310 | 126 | 291 | 122 | 1336 | 603 |
May | 325 | 184 | 216 | 68 | 282 | 134 | 268 | 146 | 275 | 107 | 1366 | 639 |
June | 298 | 188 | 166 | 82 | 289 | 152 | 297 | 189 | 336 | 142 | 1386 | 753 |
July | 330 | 254 | 225 | 114 | 266 | 141 | 369 | 214 | 352 | 179 | 1542 | 902 |
August | 155 | 173 | 128 | 64 | 165 | 135 | 236 | 148 | 252 | 122 | 936 | 642 |
September | 238 | 235 | 196 | 83 | 241 | 113 | 233 | 174 | 249 | 152 | 1157 | 757 |
October | 228 | 195 | 128 | 88 | 211 | 114 | 235 | 182 | 214 | 144 | 1016 | 723 |
November | 178 | 221 | 82 | 92 | 128 | 134 | 197 | 191 | 197 | 154 | 782 | 792 |
December | 127 | 199 | 113 | 81 | 123 | 138 | 132 | 193 | 129 | 152 | 624 | 763 |
Total Sales | 3256 | 2235 | 1995 | 881 | 2887 | 1469 | 3240 | 2007 | 3289 | 1578 | 14667 | 8170 |
% Change | -31% | -56% | -49% | -38% | -52% | -44% |
However, to end on a more positive note it is encouraging to see the number of properties being sold improving marginally over the past two months of the year.