THE NUMBER of property sales in Cyprus during July rose 18 per cent compared to July 2016 according to official statistics published by the Department of Lands and Surveys earlier today.
This rise follows a 28% increase in June, a 59% increase in May and a fall of 2% in April.
During July a total of 739 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 625 deposited in July 2016.
Of those 739 contracts, 488 (66%) were deposited by Cypriot purchasers and 251 (34%) were deposited by overseas purchasers. (This is a sharp rise in the number of overseas purchasers that usually average in the region of 27%).
Although the number of sales contracts in Larnaca fell by 16% compared with July 2016, they rose in the remaining four districts.
Sales in Famagusta rose 119%, while sales in both Nicosia and Limassol rose 22%, while sales in Paphos rose 20%.
Total Property Sale Contracts – 2016/2017 Comparison
District | Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nicosia | 2016 | 54 |
79 |
82 |
79 | 82 | 98 | 102 | 64 | 81 | 80 | 86 | 144 |
2017 | 72 | 73 | 79 | 80 | 118 | 162 | 124 | ||||||
Famagusta | 2016 | 22 |
35 | 33 |
35 |
24 | 34 |
27 | 41 | 32 | 47 | 19 | 87 |
2017 | 21 | 19 | 40 | 29 | 38 | 46 | 59 | ||||||
Larnaca | 2016 | 78 |
108 | 121 |
127 |
103 | 120 |
123 | 81 | 121 | 111 | 114 | 153 |
2017 | 102 | 100 | 113 | 69 | 119 | 96 | 103 | ||||||
Limassol | 2016 | 92 |
179 | 197 |
166 |
145 | 222 |
220 | 129 | 195 | 270 | 249 | 432 |
2017 | 132 | 177 | 232 | 192 | 298 | 304 | 289 | ||||||
Paphos | 2016 | 81 |
100 | 106 |
107 |
120 | 183 |
153 | 136 | 127 | 126 | 183 | 318 |
2017 | 96 | 87 | 162 | 136 | 183 | 235 | 184 | ||||||
Totals | 2016 | 327 |
501 | 539 |
514 |
474 | 657 |
625 | 451 | 556 | 634 | 651 | 1,134 |
2017 | 423 | 456 | 626 | 506 | 756 | 843 | 739 |
During the first seven months of 2017, sales contracts have risen 20% compared to the same period last year.
(An unknown number of 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. These contracts inflate the total figures above and the domestic sales figures below.)
Domestic property sales
Property sales to the domestic (Cypriot) in July rose 12% compared to July 2016 with sales rising in all districts with the exception of Larnaca, where sales fell 32%.
Famagusta lead the way with sales up 58% compared to July 2016, followed by Paphos (+26%), Paphos (+26%) and Limassol (+24%). Famagusta is popular with those living in Nicosia looking for a second home.
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 |
||||||
Famagusta | 2016 | 20 | 31 | 21 |
33 |
24 | 7 | 19 | 32 | 22 | 37 | 9 | 72 |
2017 | 20 | 17 | 24 | 23 | 27 |
31 | 30 |
||||||
Larnaca | 2016 | 68 | 96 | 85 |
91 |
93 | 75 | 91 | 67 | 90 | 81 | 74 | 114 |
2017 | 77 | 80 | 85 | 49 | 76 |
70 | 62 |
||||||
Limassol | 2016 | 68 | 158 | 145 |
122 |
126 | 162 | 156 | 101 | 142 | 202 | 196 | 307 |
2017 | 97 | 130 | 176 | 152 | 202 |
227 | 194 |
||||||
Paphos | 2016 | 61 | 72 | 59 |
65 |
105 | 126 | 74 | 88 | 98 | 83 | 111 | 171 |
2017 | 73 | 47 | 82 | 93 | 88 |
157 | 93 |
||||||
Totals | 2016 | 260 | 427 | 382 |
380 |
416 |
462 |
434 | 346 | 427 | 473 | 463 | 780 |
2017 | 330 | 343 | 438 |
379 | 496 |
636 | 488 |
During the first seven months of 2017, domestic have risen 13% compared to the same period last year reaching a total of 3,109.
Overseas property sales
Property sales to the overseas (non-Cypriot) market during July 2017 rose 31% compared to the same month last year with 251 contracts of sale deposited compared with 191 in July 2016.
Sales rose in all districts with Famagusta leading the way where they increased by 263%. Sales in Nicosia rose 88%, while those in Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos rose by 28%, 17% and 15% 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 | ||||||
Famagusta | 2016 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
2 |
0 |
27 |
8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 15 |
2017 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 29 | ||||||
Larnaca | 2016 | 10 | 12 | 36 |
36 |
10 |
45 |
32 | 14 | 31 | 30 | 40 | 39 |
2017 | 25 | 20 | 28 | 20 | 43 | 26 | 41 | ||||||
Limassol | 2016 | 24 | 21 | 52 |
44 |
19 |
60 |
64 | 28 | 53 | 68 | 53 | 125 |
2017 | 35 | 47 | 56 | 40 | 96 | 77 | 75 | ||||||
Paphos | 2016 | 20 | 28 | 47 |
42 |
15 |
57 | 79 | 48 | 29 | 43 | 72 | 147 |
2017 | 23 | 40 | 80 | 43 | 95 | 78 | 91 | ||||||
Totals | 2016 | 67 | 74 | 157 |
134 |
58 |
195 |
191 | 105 | 129 | 161 | 188 | 354 |
2017 | 93 | 113 | 186 | 127 | 260 | 208 | 251 |
During the first seven months of 2017, property sales to the overseas market have risen 42% compared with the same period last year reaching a total of 1,240.
(During July a total of 87 properties were transferred to overseas buyers bringing the total number of transfers for the year to date to 543.)
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 (Jul) | 1,240 | 3,109 | 28.5% | 4,349 |
Totals |
59,858 | 144,296 | 29.3% | 204,154 |