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28th March 2024
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HomeNewsStrong growth in property sales (Update)

Strong growth in property sales (Update)

Cyprus property salesTHE DEPARTMENT of Lands and Surveys reports that the number of property sales contracts deposited at Land Registry offices across Cyprus in February 2018 rose 46 per cent compared to February 2017.

This rise follows a rise of 64% in January, 36% in December, 39% in November and an 18% rise in October.

During February a total of 666 contracts or the sale of residential and commercial properties and land (building plots and fields) were deposited at Land Registry offices across Cyprus, compared with the 456 deposited in February 2017.

This is the highest number of contracts deposited during February since 2010 when 704 contracts were deposited.

Although sales in Larnaca fell by 1%, they rose in all the other districts.

In percentage terms Famagusta led the way with sales rising by 174% followed by Paphos, where sales rose by 87%. Meanwhile sales in Limassol and Nicosia rose by 45% and 32% respectively.

Total Property Sale Contracts – 2017/2018 Comparison

District Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Nicosia 2017 72
73
79
80 118 162 124 76 87 117 170 306
2018 146 96
Famagusta 2017 21
19 40
29
38 46
59 47 57 51 52 169
2018 48 52
Larnaca 2017 102
100 113
69
119 96
103 88 107 111 151 181
2018 112 99
Limassol 2017 132
177 232
192
298 304
289 201 203 306 321 532
2018 225 256
Paphos 2017 96
87 162
136
183 235
184 160 148 183 212 349
2018 164 163
Totals 2017 423
456 626
506
756 843
739 572 602 768 906 1537
2018 695 666

During the first two months of 2018 the number of contracts for the sale of property deposited at Land Registry offices has risen 55% to 1,361 compared to the same period last year.

The highest rise of 150%, was recorded in Famagusta, followed by Paphos with a 79% increase.

Significant increases were also recorded in Nicosia (67%) and Limassol (56%), while the smallest increase (4%) was recorded in Larnaca.

Revised sales statistics

Of the 666 contracts, 306 (46%) were deposited by domestic (Cypriot) purchasers, while 54% (360) were deposited by overseas (non-Cypriot) purchasers. This is a very sharp increase in the number of overseas sales and is difficult to understand.

However, according to a notice on the Department of Lands & Surveys website, the way the sales statistics are presented for foreign buyers has been modified following improvements to the method of coding. (Unfortunately details of these modifications have not been published.)

The Department also suggests avoiding comparing 2018 foreign buyers’ statistics with earlier years.

Hopefully details will be forthcoming before March figures are published.

One positive change to the figures is that the Department lists foreign sales to EU citizens and non-EU citizens separately as presented in the table below:

Overseas Property Sale Contracts – 2018

District Source Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Nicosia EU 10 8
Non-EU 10 4
Famagusta EU 15 24
Non-EU 36 10
Larnaca EU 9 9
Non-EU 43 46
Limassol EU 15 17
Non-EU 103 87
Paphos EU 41 58
Non-EU 105 97
Totals EU 90 116
Non-EU 297 244
TOTAL 387 360

Cyprus Property Sale Contracts 2000 – 2018

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
2,406 6,328 27.5% 8,734
2018 (Feb)
747 614 54.9% 1,361
Totals
61,771 148,129 29.4% 209,900

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2 COMMENTS

  1. You don’t need your title deeds to sell.

    Ed: That’s true, but given the many potential problems faced by those who buy a property without its all-important Title Deed most people will restrict their search to properties with a full, unencumbered Title Deed.

  2. Property prices on Cyprus are stilll reasonable compared to other European countries, the rental returns are very good making investments worthwhile. Remember no title walk away!

Comments are closed.

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