THE NUMBER of property sales in Cyprus during May 2016 increased by 17 per cent compared with May 2015 according to the latest official figures published by the Department of Lands & Surveys.
The 17% increase in May follows a 35% increase in April and a 19% increase in March. Increased numbers of sales have been recorded for the last nine months.
May saw a total of 474 property sale contracts deposited at Land Registry offices across the island.
Although sales in Nicosia (the capital city) fell by 5%, compared to May 2015 they rose in all the other districts.
Sales in Larnaca rose by 51% to reach 103 compared to 68 in May 2015. Larnaca was followed by Paphos where sales increased by 26%, while sales in Famagusta and Limassol rose by 14% and 7% respectively.
Total Property Sale Transactions – 2015/2016 Comparison
| District | Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicosia | 2015 | 46 | 45 | 83 | 88 | 86 | 61 | 60 | 37 | 65 | 64 | 60 | 54 |
| 2016 | 54 |
79 |
82 |
79 | 82 | ||||||||
| Famagusta | 2015 | 16 | 27 | 17 | 17 | 21 | 33 | 45 | 14 | 30 | 29 | 33 | 42 |
| 2016 | 22 |
35 | 33 |
35 |
24 | ||||||||
| Larnaca | 2015 | 90 | 71 | 98 | 67 | 68 | 111 | 95 | 75 | 85 | 87 | 111 | 114 |
| 2016 | 78 |
108 | 121 |
127 |
103 | ||||||||
| Limassol | 2015 | 95 | 97 | 160 | 115 | 135 | 135 | 156 | 87 | 114 | 166 | 137 | 169 |
| 2016 | 92 |
179 | 197 |
166 |
145 | ||||||||
| Paphos | 2015 | 74 | 85 | 94 | 94 | 95 | 124 | 140 | 88 | 91 | 117 | 105 | 134 |
| 2016 | 81 |
100 | 106 |
107 |
120 | ||||||||
| Totals |
2015 | 321 | 325 | 452 | 381 | 405 | 464 | 496 | 301 | 385 | 463 | 446 | 513 |
| 2016 | 327 |
501 | 539 |
514 |
474 |
During the five months of 2016 sales have risen 25% to reach 2,355 compared with 1,844 during the first five months of 2015.
Property transfers
Efforts to reduce the Title Deed backlog continue, with the number of transfers during the first five months of 2016 reaching 5,454 compared with 4,605 during the first five months of 2015; an increase of 18%.
The declared price of the 5,454 transfers was €1.20 billion and the accepted price €1.33 billion, where the declared price is the sales price entered on the contract of sale and the accepted price is the Land Registry’s assessment of the market value of a property at its date of purchase.
In addition to transfers resulting from sales, the figures also include transfers to beneficiaries of Wills and gifts.
