OCTOBER saw the number of property sales in Cyprus to overseas buyers rise by 65% according to official statistics from the Department of Lands & Surveys.
Of the 768 contracts for the sale of immovable property in Cyprus deposited at Land Registry offices, 502 (65.4%) were deposited by Cypriot purchasers and 266 (34.6%) were deposited by overseas property purchasers.
Overseas property sales
Sales increased by 65% compared to October 2016 with sales rising in all districts.
In percentage terms, Famagusta led the way with sales increasing by 130%, followed by Paphos, where they rose by 81%. Meanwhile sales in Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca rose by 70%, 60% and 30% respectively.
Overseas Property Sale Contracts – 2016/2017 Comparison
District | Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nicosia | 2016 | 11 |
9 |
10 |
10 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 28 |
2017 | 9 |
4 |
6 |
18 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 17 | |||
Famagusta | 2016 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
2 |
0 |
27 |
8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 15 |
2017 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 29 | 22 | 14 | 23 | |||
Larnaca | 2016 | 10 | 12 | 36 |
36 |
10 |
45 |
32 | 14 | 31 | 30 | 40 | 39 |
2017 | 25 | 20 | 28 | 20 | 43 | 26 | 41 | 25 | 34 | 39 | |||
Limassol | 2016 | 24 | 21 | 52 |
44 |
19 |
60 |
64 | 28 | 53 | 68 | 53 | 125 |
2017 | 35 | 47 | 56 | 40 | 96 | 77 | 75 | 41 | 50 | 109 | |||
Paphos | 2016 | 20 | 28 | 47 |
42 |
15 |
57 | 79 | 48 | 29 | 43 | 72 | 147 |
2017 | 23 | 40 | 80 | 43 | 95 | 78 | 91 | 79 | 48 | 78 | |||
Totals | 2016 | 67 | 74 | 157 |
134 |
58 |
195 |
191 | 105 | 129 | 161 | 188 | 354 |
2017 | 93 | 113 | 186 | 127 | 260 | 208 | 251 | 173 | 161 | 266 |
During the first ten months of 2017, property sales to the overseas market have risen 45% compared with the same period last year to reach a total of 1,840.
So far this year Paphos is the most popular achieving 655 sales closely followed by Limassol with 626. Larnaca has achieved 301 sales, Famagusta 139 and Nicosia 119.
Domestic property sales
Sales of Cyprus property to the domestic market in August rose by 6% compared to October 2016. Although sales in Famagusta, Larnaca and Limassol fell by 24%, 11% and 2% respectively, these falls were outweighed by increased sales in Nicosia (43%) and Paphos (27%).
Domestic Property Sale Contracts – 2016/2017 Comparison
District | Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nicosia | 2016 | 43 |
70 |
10 |
69 | 68 | 92 | 94 | 58 | 75 | 70 | 73 | 116 |
2017 | 63 | 69 |
71 |
62 |
103 |
150 |
109 |
70 |
72 |
100 |
|||
Famagusta | 2016 | 20 | 31 | 21 |
33 |
24 | 7 | 19 | 32 | 22 | 37 | 9 | 72 |
2017 | 20 | 17 | 24 | 23 | 27 |
31 | 30 |
25 |
43 | 28 |
|||
Larnaca | 2016 | 68 | 96 | 85 |
91 |
93 | 75 | 91 | 67 | 90 | 81 | 74 | 114 |
2017 | 77 | 80 | 85 | 49 | 76 |
70 | 62 |
63 |
73 | 72 |
|||
Limassol | 2016 | 68 | 158 | 145 |
122 |
126 | 162 | 156 | 101 | 142 | 202 | 196 | 307 |
2017 | 97 | 130 | 176 | 152 | 202 |
227 | 194 |
160 |
153 | 197 |
|||
Paphos | 2016 | 61 | 72 | 59 |
65 |
105 | 126 | 74 | 88 | 98 | 83 | 111 | 171 |
2017 | 73 | 47 | 82 | 93 | 88 |
157 | 93 |
81 |
100 | 105 |
|||
Totals | 2016 | 260 | 427 | 382 |
380 |
416 |
462 |
434 | 346 | 427 | 473 | 463 | 780 |
2017 | 330 | 343 | 438 |
379 | 496 |
636 | 488 |
399 |
441 | 502 |
During the first ten months of 2017, property sales to the domestic market have risen 11% compared with the same period last year to reach a total of 4,451.
So far this year Limassol is the most popular achieving 1,688 sales followed by Paphos with 919. Nicosia has achieved 869 sales, Larnaca 707 and Famagusta 268.
Cyprus Property Sale Contracts 2000 – 2017
Year | Overseas Sales | Domestic Sales | Percentage Overseas Sales |
Total Sales |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | 450 | 12,214 | 3.6% | 12,664 |
2001 | 1,207 | 12,849 | 8.6% | 14,056 |
2002 | 2,548 | 14,111 | 15.3% | 16,659 |
2003 | 3,981 | 15,294 | 20.7% | 19,275 |
2004 | 5,384 | 11,947 | 31.1% | 17,331 |
2005 | 6,485 | 10,106 | 39.1% | 16,591 |
2006 | 8,355 | 8,598 | 49.3% | 16,953 |
2007 | 11,281 | 9,964 | 53.1% | 21,245 |
2008 | 6,636 | 8,031 | 45.2% | 14,667 |
2009 | 1,761 | 6,409 | 21.6% | 8,170 |
2010 | 2,030 | 6,568 | 23.6% | 8,598 |
2011 | 1,652 | 5,366 | 23.5% | 7,018 |
2012 | 1,476 | 4,793 | 23.5% | 6,269 |
2013 | 1,017 | 2,750 | 27.0% | 3,767 |
2014 | 1,193 | 3,334 | 26.4% | 4,527 |
2015 | 1,349 | 3,603 | 27.2% | 4,952 |
2016 |
1,813 | 5,250 | 25.7% | 7,063 |
2017 (Oct) | 1,840 | 4,451 | 29.2% | 6,291 |
Totals |
60,458 | 145,638 | 29.3% | 206,096 |
Just to put this in perspective, in round numbers, Birmingham is the same size and population as Cyprus
In Birmingham in October…….26,000 land registry transactions
For the U.K. in the same month…..well over 1 million
Good to see Famagusta catching-up. Wish they’d get buyers for the places that are around us, half-finished for 5+ years…..
If I won the lottery (which I won’t cos I don’t succumb) then I’d buy ’em up and knock ’em down and get our scenic views back again.
Were these overseas investors the Chinese ‘rushing’ to buy assets before the Chinese government banned the sale of Cypriot properties in China and stopped citizens releasing their money from the country to buy them?
Probably no way of checking the identity of individuals overseas buyers, but would be interesting to see if this is sustainable, or just a ‘flash in the pan’?