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28th March 2024
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HomeNews2017 a better year for property sales (Update)

2017 a better year for property sales (Update)

Cyprus Property SalesDESPITE continuing problems with Title Deeds, property sales in Cyprus rose 24 per cent during 2017 according to official statistics published by the Department of Lands and Surveys. This follows an annual rise of 43 per cent in 2016, 9 per cent in 2015 and 20 per cent in 2014.

December property sales

During December 2017 total of 1,537 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 1,134 deposited in December. 2016; an increase of 36% and the highest number since July 2008.

Of the 1,537 contracts, 1,190 (65%) were deposited by domestic (Cypriot) purchasers, while 35% (347) were deposited by overseas (non-Cypriot) purchasers.

Sales rose in all districts. In percentage terms Nicosia (the capital) led the way with a rise in sales of 113% followed by Famagusta with an increase of 94%. Meanwhile sales in Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos rose by 23%, 18% and 10% respectively.

Annual sales

During 2017 a total of 8,734 contracts of sale were deposited compared with the 7,063 deposited in 2016; an increase of 24% and the highest number since the property bubble burst in 2008.

Although sales in Larnaca fell by 1% over the year, they rose in all the other districts. Annual sales in Famagusta rose by 44% followed by Nicosia with a rise of 42%. Meanwhile property sales in Limassol and Paphos rose by 27% and 23% respectively.

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 76 87 117 170 306
Famagusta 2016 22
35 33
35
24 34
27 41 32 47 19 87
2017 21 19 40 29 38 46 59 47 57 51 52 169
Larnaca 2016 78
108 121
127
103 120
123 81 121 111 114 153
2017 102 100 113 69 119 96 103 88 107 111 151 181
Limassol 2016 92
179 197
166
145 222
220 129 195 270 249 432
2017 132 177 232 192 298 304 289 201 203 306 321 532
Paphos 2016 81
100 106
107
120 183
153 136 127 126 183 318
2017 96 87 162 136 183 235 184 160 148 183 212 349
Totals 2016 327
501 539
514
474 657
625 451 556 634 651 1134
2017 423 456 626 506 756 843 739 572 602 768 906 1537

The figures above include properties acquired by the banks that relate to debt-to-asset swaps and loan restructuring. The Department of Lands & Surveys reports that, between September 2015 and April 2017, the total number of properties affected was 1,121; 26 in 2015, 1,021 in 2016 and 74 in 2017.

Domestic sales

Property sales to the domestic (Cypriot) market in December rose 53% compared to December 2016, with sale agreements reaching 1,190 compared with 780 in December 2016.

Domestic sales rose in all districts. In percentage terms Nicosia led the way with sales up 133%, followed by Famagusta, where sales rose by 107%. Meanwhile, sales in Limassol, Paphos and Larnaca rose by 39%, 22% and 18% respectively.

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
70
72
100
154
270
Famagusta 2016 20 31 21
33
24 7 19 32 22 37 9 72
2017 20 17 24 23 27
31 30
25
43 28
35 149
Larnaca 2016 68 96 85
91
93 75 91 67 90 81 74 114
2017 77 80 85 49 76
70 62
63
73 72
115
134
Limassol 2016 68 158 145
122
126 162 156 101 142 202 196 307
2017 97 130 176 152 202
227 194
160
153 197
241
428
Paphos 2016 61 72 59
65
105 126 74 88 98 83 111 171
2017 73 47 82 93 88
157 93
81
100 105
142
209
Totals 2016 260 427 382
380
416
462
434 346 427 473 463 780
2017 330 343 438
379 496
636 488
399
441 502
687
1190

Annual performance

During 2017 domestic sales rose 21% compared with 2016. Although sales fell by 7% in Larnaca, they rose in all the other districts. In percentage terms sales in Nicosia rose by 44% followed by Famagusta where they rose by 38%. Meanwhile sales in Limassol and Paphos rose by 25% and 14% respectively.

Overseas sales

Property sales to the overseas (non-Cypriot) market in December fell by 2% compared with December 2016 with 347 properties sold compared with 354 in December 2016.

Although sales rose by 33% in Famagusta, 29% in Nicosia and 21% in Larnaca, these increases were outweighed by falls of 17% in Limassol and 5% in Paphos.

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 6 15 17 16 36
Famagusta 2016 2 4 12
2
0
27
8 9 10 10 10 15
2017 1 2 16 6 11 15 29 22 14 23 17 20
Larnaca 2016 10 12 36
36
10
45
32 14 31 30 40 39
2017 25 20 28 20 43 26 41 25 34 39 36 47
Limassol 2016 24 21 52
44
19
60
64 28 53 68 53 125
2017 35 47 56 40 96 77 75 41 50 109 80 104
Paphos 2016 20 28 47
42
15
57 79 48 29 43 72 147
2017 23 40 80 43 95 78 91 79 48 78 70 140
Totals 2016 67 74 157
134
58
195
191 105 129 161 188 354
2017 93 113 186 127 260 208 251 173 161 266 219 347

Annual performance

During 2017 overseas sales rose 33% compared with 2016, with sales reaching 2,406 compared with 1,813.

Over the year sales rose in all districts; by 61% in Famagusta, 38% in Paphos, 33% in Limassol, 31% in Nicosia and 15% in Larnaca.

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. Since then sales have risen for four consecutive years.

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
2,406 6,328 27.5% 8,734
Totals
60,458 145,638 29.3% 206,096

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1 COMMENT

  1. hello I like your article. do you have information from non Cypriot countries statistics of what country has most buyers.

    Ed: I don’t have any information on countries other than Cyprus. But I imagine that the country with the highest number of sales is the USA.

Comments are closed.

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