THE NUMBER of property sales contracts deposited at Land Registry offices across the Republic of Cyprus during August 2018 rose 14 per cent compared to August 2017 according to official figures published by the Department of Lands and Surveys.
Property sales have been rising for 16 consecutive months and this August rise follows increases of 21% in July, 2% in June and 23% in May.
During August a total of 653 contracts for the sale of residential and commercial properties and land (building plots and fields) were deposited at Land Registry offices across Cyprus, compared with the 572 deposited in August 2017.
Of the 653 contracts deposited, 271 (41.5%) were for properties purchased by non-Cypriots.
The figures show a continuing improvement in the economic conditions, coupled with government measures such as the citizenship by investment scheme (aka ‘Passports for Cash’ scheme.)
(The figures include an unspecified number of properties acquired by banks as part of loan restructurings.)
Although sales in Paphos fell by 3% compared with August 2017, they rose in all the other districts. In percentage terms Limassol led the way with sales rising by 30% followed by Nicosia, where sales rose by 20% and Limassol. Sales in Larnaca and Famagusta rose by 7% and 6% 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 |
126 |
117 |
153 |
146 |
176 |
91 |
|||||
| Famagusta | 2017 | 21 |
19 | 40 |
29 |
38 | 46 |
59 | 47 | 57 | 51 | 52 | 169 |
| 2018 | 48 | 52 |
40 |
52 | 79 |
61 |
61 |
50 |
|||||
| Larnaca | 2017 | 102 |
100 | 113 |
69 |
119 | 96 |
103 | 88 | 107 | 111 | 151 | 181 |
| 2018 | 112 | 99 |
116 |
83 | 113 |
133 |
112 |
94 |
|||||
| Limassol | 2017 | 132 |
177 | 232 |
192 |
298 | 304 |
289 | 201 | 203 | 306 | 321 | 532 |
| 2018 | 225 | 256 |
314 |
246 | 282 |
338 |
314 |
262 |
|||||
| Paphos | 2017 | 96 |
87 | 162 |
136 |
183 | 235 |
184 | 160 | 148 | 183 | 212 | 349 |
| 2018 | 164 | 163 |
172 |
157 | 201 |
180 |
233 |
156 |
|||||
| Totals | 2017 | 423 |
456 | 626 |
506 |
756 | 843 |
739 | 572 | 602 | 768 | 906 | 1537 |
| 2018 | 695 | 666 | 768 | 655 | 828 | 858 | 896 | 653 |
Property sales – year to date
During the first eight months of 2018 the number of contracts for the sale of property deposited at Land Registry offices has risen 22% to 6,016 compared to the 4,921 deposited during corresponding period of last year.
In percentage terms Famagusta saw the highest increase in the number of sales – up by 48%, followed by Nicosia (the capital) with a 34% increase. Increases of 24%, 15% and 9% were recorded in Limassol, Paphos, and Larnaca respectively.
Overseas property sales
The Land Registry figures reveal that a total of 271 property sale contracts were deposited by non-Cypriots during August 2018. Of those 104 were deposited by EU citizens and the remaining 167 by non-EU citizens, but we cannot quantify the number of non-EU citizens who bought property with a view to applying for citizenship.
Paphos remained the most popular district with the overseas market with the number of property sales contracts deposited reaching 108. Limassol recorded 88, Larnaca 36, Famagusta 21 and Nicosia 7.
Overseas Property Sale Contracts – 2018
| District | Source | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicosia | EU | 10 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
9 |
8 |
11 |
5 |
||||
| Non-EU | 10 | 4 | 13 |
14 | 9 | 15 |
10 | 2 | |||||
| Total | 20 | 12 | 22 | 24 | 18 | 23 | 21 | 7 | |||||
| Famagusta | EU | 15 | 24 | 8 |
12 | 19 | 16 | 20 | 9 | ||||
| Non-EU | 36 | 10 | 14 |
28 | 26 | 18 | 23 | 12 | |||||
| Total | 51 | 34 | 22 | 40 | 45 | 34 | 43 | 21 | |||||
| Larnaca | EU | 9 | 9 | 9 |
6 | 9 | 20 |
15 | 11 | ||||
| Non-EU | 43 | 46 | 40 |
36 | 49 | 52 | 56 | 36 | |||||
| Total | 52 | 55 | 49 | 42 | 58 | 72 | 71 | 47 | |||||
| Limassol | EU | 15 | 17 | 32 |
17 | 19 | 22 | 25 |
24 | ||||
| Non-EU | 103 | 87 | 83 |
67 | 94 | 109 | 95 | 64 | |||||
| Total | 118 | 104 | 115 | 84 | 113 | 131 | 120 | 88 | |||||
| Paphos | EU | 41 | 58 | 55 |
49 | 70 | 60 | 79 | 55 | ||||
| Non-EU | 105 | 97 | 74 |
87 | 88 | 65 | 92 | 53 | |||||
| Total | 146 | 155 | 129 | 136 | 158 | 125 | 171 | 108 | |||||
| Totals | EU | 90 | 116 | 113 |
94 | 126 | 126 | 150 | 104 | ||||
| Non-EU | 297 | 244 | 224 |
232 | 266 | 259 | 276 | 167 | |||||
| TOTAL | 387 | 360 | 337 | 326 | 392 | 385 | 426 | 271 |
During the first eight months of 2018, a total of 2,884 sales contracts were deposited by overseas buyers, with 919 deposited by EU nationals and 1,965 by non-EU nationals.
Paphos maintains its position as the most popular spot for overseas buyers with sale contracts reaching 1,128, followed by Limassol with 873, Larnaca with 446, Famagusta with 290 and Nicosia with 147.
Limassol is the most popular place for non-EU citizens, while Paphos is favoured by the majority of EU citizens.
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 (Aug) |
2,884 | 3,135 | 47.9% | 6,019 |
| Totals |
63,908 | 150,650 | 29.8% | 214,558 |
