THE NUMBER of property sales contracts deposited at Land Registry offices across the Republic of Cyprus during November 2018 rose by 2 per cent compared to November 2017 according to official figures published by the Department of Lands and Surveys.
Property sales have been rising for 19 consecutive months and November’s rise of 2% follows rises of 6% in October, 14% in September and 14% in August.
During November a total of 925 contracts for the sale of residential and commercial properties and land (building plots and fields) were deposited at Land Registry offices, compared with the 906 deposited in November 2017.
Of those 925 contracts, 497 (53.7%) were for properties purchased by Cypriots and 428 (46.3%) were for properties purchased by non-Cypriots; 143 by EU citizens and 285 by third country nationals.
The figures show a continuing improvement in the economic conditions, coupled with government incentives designed to boost property sales and drive foreign investment.
Although sales in Famagusta fell by 10% and those in Nicosia and Larnaca each fell by 5% compared with November 2017, they rose by 8% in Paphos and 7% in Limassol.
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 |
118 |
145 |
161 | ||
| Famagusta | 2017 | 21 |
19 | 40 |
29 |
38 | 46 |
59 | 47 | 57 | 51 | 52 | 169 |
| 2018 | 48 | 52 |
40 |
52 | 79 |
61 |
61 |
50 |
45 | 57 | 47 | ||
| Larnaca | 2017 | 102 |
100 | 113 |
69 |
119 | 96 |
103 | 88 | 107 | 111 | 151 | 181 |
| 2018 | 112 | 99 |
116 |
83 | 113 |
133 |
112 |
94 |
121 | 116 | 143 | ||
| Limassol | 2017 | 132 |
177 | 232 |
192 |
298 | 304 |
289 | 201 | 203 | 306 | 321 | 532 |
| 2018 | 225 | 256 |
314 |
246 | 282 |
338 |
314 |
262 |
251 | 289 | 344 | ||
| Paphos | 2017 | 96 |
87 | 162 |
136 |
183 | 235 |
184 | 160 | 148 | 183 | 212 | 349 |
| 2018 | 164 | 163 |
172 |
157 | 201 |
180 |
233 |
156 |
152 | 204 | 230 | ||
| Totals | 2017 | 423 |
456 | 626 |
506 |
756 | 843 |
739 | 572 | 602 | 768 | 906 | 1537 |
| 2018 | 695 | 666 | 768 | 655 | 828 | 858 | 896 | 653 | 687 | 811 | 925 |
Property sales – year to date
During the first eleven months of 2018 sales have increased by 17% with the number of sale contracts deposited rising to 8,442 compared with the 7,197 deposited during the same period last year.
So far this year sales in Famagusta have risen 29% and sales in Nicosia have risen 27% Meanwhile sales in Limassol, Paphos, and Larnaca have risen 18%, 13% and 7% respectively.
An unknown number of sales resulted from properties acquired by banks as part of loan restructuring agreements, etc. and their subsequent sale.
Although the number of properties acquired and subsequently sold by the banks are not recorded separately, it’s been reported that the Bank of Cyprus’ Real Estate Management Unit (REMU) increased the real estate under management by 1,057 during the first nine months of 2018.
Furthermore, at the end of September 2018, the BoC’s balance sheet had 557 housing properties worth €163 million, 226 offices and other commercial properties worth €221 million, 56 manufacturing units worth €81 million, nine hotels (€37 million), 1,505 plots of land (€585 million), three golf courses (€265 million) and 61 buildings under construction (€78 million).
Overseas property sales
According to the Department’s statistics, a total of 428 property sale contracts were deposited by non-Cypriots during November 2018. Of those 143 (33.4%) were deposited by EU citizens and the remaining 285 (66.6%) by non-EU citizens.
Paphos remains the most popular district with the overseas market with the number of property sales contracts deposited reaching 166, while Limassol recorded 148, Larnaca 50, Famagusta 33 and Nicosia 20.
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 |
10 |
8 |
7 | |
| Non-EU | 10 | 4 | 13 |
14 | 9 | 15 |
10 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 13 | ||
| Total | 20 | 12 | 22 | 24 | 18 | 23 | 21 | 7 | 21 | 19 | 20 | ||
| Famagusta | EU | 15 | 24 | 8 |
12 | 19 | 16 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 13 | |
| Non-EU | 36 | 10 | 14 |
28 | 26 | 18 | 23 | 12 | 24 | 14 | 20 | ||
| Total | 51 | 34 | 22 | 40 | 45 | 34 | 43 | 21 | 24 | 21 | 33 | ||
| Larnaca | EU | 9 | 9 | 9 |
6 | 9 | 20 |
15 | 11 | 15 | 13 | 11 | |
| Non-EU | 43 | 46 | 40 |
36 | 49 | 52 | 56 | 36 | 46 | 57 | 50 | ||
| Total | 52 | 55 | 49 | 42 | 58 | 72 | 71 | 47 | 61 | 70 | 61 | ||
| Limassol | EU | 15 | 17 | 32 |
17 | 19 | 22 | 25 |
24 | 11 | 27 | 38 | |
| Non-EU | 103 | 87 | 83 |
67 | 94 | 109 | 95 | 64 | 65 | 86 | 110 | ||
| Total | 118 | 104 | 115 | 84 | 113 | 131 | 120 | 88 | 76 | 113 | 148 | ||
| Paphos | EU | 41 | 58 | 55 |
49 | 70 | 60 | 79 | 55 | 49 | 91 | 74 | |
| Non-EU | 105 | 97 | 74 |
87 | 88 | 65 | 92 | 53 | 71 | 89 | 92 | ||
| Total | 146 | 155 | 129 | 136 | 158 | 125 | 171 | 108 | 120 | 180 | 166 | ||
| Totals | EU | 90 | 116 | 113 |
94 | 126 | 126 | 150 | 104 | 85 | 146 | 143 | |
| Non-EU | 297 | 244 | 224 |
232 | 266 | 259 | 276 | 167 | 217 | 257 | 285 | ||
| TOTAL | 387 | 360 | 337 | 326 | 392 | 385 | 426 | 271 | 302 | 403 | 428 |
During the first eleven months of 2018, a total of 4,017 sales contracts were deposited by overseas buyers, with 1,293 (32.2%) deposited by EU nationals and 2,724 (67.8%) by non-EU nationals.
Limassol remains 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 (Nov) |
4,017 | 4,425 | 47.6% | 8,442 |
| Totals |
65,041 | 151,940 | 30.0% | 216,981 |
