Property sales soar (update)

THE DEPARTMENT of Land and Surveys reported an almost unbelievable 121 per cent rise in the number of property sales contracts deposited at Land Registry offices across Cyprus during December compared with December 2015.

This 121% rise follows a 46% rise in November, a 37% increase in October and a 50% increase in September bringing the annual increase to 43%; the largest year-on-year rise for the past decade.

Of the 1,134 contracts, 780 (69%) were deposited by domestic (Cypriot) purchasers, while 31% (354) were deposited by overseas (non-Cypriot) purchasers.

Part of the increase is probably accounted for by those taking advantage of the concession introduced in 2015 exempting those who bought property by 31st December 2016 from paying Capital Gains Tax regardless of when they sold the property.

However, we also know that an unknown number of these property sales contracts relate to ‘non-sale’ agreements such as loan restructurings, recoveries and debt-to-asset swaps agreed between the banks and defaulting borrowers.

As the Department of Lands & Surveys does not record these ‘non-sale’ agreements separately, the figures presented do not accurately reflect the real number of property sales.

We can only hope that the Department of Lands & Surveys will amend its statistics to separate actual sale contracts from ‘non-sale’ agreements so that an accurate picture can be presented, which will benefit both the property industry and those who may be considering buying property on the island.

Sales rose in all district compared with December 2015. In percentage terms Nicosia led the way with sales up 156%, followed by Limassol, where sales rose by 156%. Meanwhile, sales in Paphos, Famagusta and Larnaca rose by 137%, 107% and 18% 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	98	102	64	81	80	86	144
Famagusta	2015	16	27	17	17	21	33	45	14	30	29	33	42
	2016	22	35	33	35	24	34	27	41	32	47	19	87
Larnaca	2015	90	71	98	67	68	111	95	75	85	87	111	114
	2016	78	108	121	127	103	120	123	81	121	111	114	153
Limassol	2015	95	97	160	115	135	135	156	87	114	166	137	169
	2016	92	179	197	166	145	222	220	129	195	270	249	432
Paphos	2015	74	85	94	94	95	124	140	88	91	117	105	134
	2016	81	100	106	107	120	183	153	136	127	126	183	318
Totals	2015	321	325	452	381	405	464	496	301	385	463	446	513
	2016	327	501	539	514	474	657	625	451	556	634	651	1134

Annual performance

During 2016 sales rose by 43% compared with 2015, with sales increasing in all districts. In percentage terms sales in Limassol over the year rose by 59% and in Paphos they rose by 40%. Meanwhile sales in Nicosia, Famagusta and Larnaca rose by 38%, 35% and 27% respectively.

Domestic property sales

Property sales to the domestic (Cypriot) market in December rose 106% compared to December 2015, with sale (and ‘non-sale’) agreements reaching 780 compared with 378 in the same month last year.

Domestic sales rose in all district compared with December 2015. In percentage terms Nicosia led the way with sales up 164%, followed by Limassol, where sales rose by 150%. Meanwhile, sales in Paphos, Famagusta and Larnaca rose by 92%, 76% and 41% respectively.

Domestic Property Sale Transactions – 2015/2016 Comparison

District	Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Nicosia	2015	39	36	71	74	74	58	56	36	55	60	50	44
	2016	43	70	10	69	68	92	94	58	75	70	73	116
Famagusta	2015	9	2	16	16	9	30	28	14	25	24	24	41
	2016	20	31	21	33	24	7	19	32	22	37	9	72
Larnaca	2015	77	49	91	40	45	82	60	62	53	59	81	81
	2016	68	96	85	91	93	75	91	67	90	81	74	114
Limassol	2015	71	77	147	90	86	100	123	65	81	127	82	123
	2016	68	158	145	122	126	162	156	101	142	202	196	307
Paphos	2015	39	38	86	64	34	63	83	64	47	92	71	89
	2016	61	72	59	65	105	126	74	88	98	83	111	171
Totals	2015	235	202	411	284	248	333	350	241	261	352	308	378
	2016	260	427	382	380	416	462	434	346	427	473	463	780

Annual performance

During 2016 domestic sales rose 46% compared with 2015, with sales increasing in all districts. In percentage terms sales in Limassol over the year rose by 61% and in Paphos they rose by 46%. Meanwhile sales in Nicosia, Famagusta and Larnaca rose by 38%, 37% and 31% respectively.

Overseas property sales

Property sales to the overseas (non-Cypriot) market, which are unaffected by ‘non-sale’ agreements during December rose 162% compared with December 2015 with 354 properties sold compared with 135 in the same month last year.

Overseas sales rose in all district compared with December 2015. In percentage terms Famagusta led the way with sales up 1400% (having sold just one property in December 2015) followed by Paphos, where sales rose by 227%. Meanwhile, sales in Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca rose by 180%, 172% and 18% respectively.

Overseas Property Sale Transactions – 2015/2016 Comparison

District	Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Nicosia	2015	7	9	12	14	12	3	4	1	10	4	10	10
	2016	11	9	10	10	14	6	8	6	6	10	13	28
Famagusta	2015	7	25	1	1	12	3	17	0	5	5	9	1
	2016	2	4	12	2	0	27	8	9	10	10	10	15
Larnaca	2015	13	22	7	27	23	29	35	13	32	28	30	33
	2016	10	12	36	36	10	45	32	14	31	30	40	39
Limassol	2015	24	20	13	25	49	35	33	22	33	39	55	46
	2016	24	21	52	44	19	60	64	28	53	68	53	125
Paphos	2015	35	47	8	30	61	61	57	24	44	35	34	45
	2016	20	28	47	42	15	57	79	48	29	43	72	147
Totals	2015	86	123	41	97	157	131	146	60	124	111	138	135
	2016	67	74	157	134	58	195	191	105	129	161	188	354

Year to date performance

During 2016 sales to the overseas (non-Cypriot) market were up 34% compared with 2015, with sales reaching 1,813 compared with 1,349.

Sales since 2000

Sales in 2007, immediately before the property bubble burst, reached 21,245. In 2013 sales reached their lowest on record at 3,767. In 2014 sales rose 20% to reach 4,527 and in 2015 they rose 9% to reach 4,952.

In 2016 combined sales and ‘non-sales’’ reached 7,073, slightly more than 2011.

Cyprus Property Sale Transactions 2000 – 2016

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
Totals	58,618	141,187	29.3%	199,805

It appears that a recovery in the property market is underway. But there is still a long way to go before sales reach 12,664; the number sold in the year 2000.

Annual performance

Domestic property sales

Annual performance

Overseas property sales

Year to date performance

Sales since 2000

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