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19th March 2024
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HomeNewsIs the Cyprus property market softening? (Update)

Is the Cyprus property market softening? (Update)

Is the Cyprus property market softening?DURING March 2019, the number of property sales contracts deposited at Land Registry office across the Republic of Cyprus stood at 766 compared with the 768 deposited in March 2018 according to official figures published by the Department of Lands and Surveys.

Of those 766 contracts, 398 (52%) were deposited by Cypriots and the remaining 368 (48%) by non-Cypriots – 125 of whom were EU citizens and 243 non-EU citizens.

Apart from a 48% fall in sales in December 2018 due to the rush to buy land in December 2017 before the government introduced VAT on land sales, the number of property sales had increased for the past 23 months.

Although property sales rose by 13% in Famagusta, 8% in Paphos, 4% in Nicosia and 2% in Larnaca, a fall in sales of 9% in Limassol completely wiped out the rises in the other four districts.

Total Property Sale Contracts – 2018/2019 Comparison

District Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Nicosia 2018 146 96 126 117 153 146 176 91 118 145 161 131
2019 161 194 131
Famagusta 2018 48 52 40 52 79 61 61 50 45 57 47 48
2019 53 48 45
Larnaca 2018 112 99 116 83 113 133 112 94 121 116 143 103
2019 114 125 118
Limassol 2018 225 256 314 246 282 338 314 262 251 289 344 290
2019 251 256 287
Paphos 2018 164 163 172 157 201 180 233 156 152 204 230 230
2019 187 211 185
Totals 2018 695 666 768 655 828 858 896 653 687 811 925 800
2019 766 834 766

Property sales – year to date

Sales during the first quarter of 2019 rose 11% compared to the same period last year. Total sales until the end of March stood at 2366 up from 2129 last year.

Sales in Nicosia rose 32% followed by Paphos, where sales rose by 17%. Meanwhile sales in Larnaca and Famagusta rose by 9% and 4% respectively, while the total number of sales in Limassol over the quarter fell by one.

Domestic sales

Domestic sales fell 8% in March 2019 compared with the same period last year, with sales falling in all districts with the exception of Nicosia, where they rose by 11%.

Sales in Paphos, Larnaca and Famagusta fell by 35%, 30% and 11% respectively and sales in Limassol fell by 4%.

During the first quarter of 2019 sales to the domestic market rose 20% compared to the first quarter of 2018.

Domestic Property Sale Contracts – 2018/2019 Comparison

District Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Nicosia 2018 126 84 104 93 135 123 155 84 97 126 141 108
2019 127 164 115
Famagusta 2018 -3 18 18 12 34 27 18 29 21 36 14 29
2019 32 19 16
Larnaca 2018 60 44 67 41 55 61 41 47 60 46 82 52
2019 54 82 47
Limassol 2018 107 152 199 162 169 207 194 174 175 176 196 201
2019 166 152 192
Paphos 2018 18 8 43 21 43 55 62 48 32 24 64 60
2019 30 31 28
Totals 2018 308 306 431 329 436 473 470 382 385 408 497 450
2019 409 448 398

Overseas sales

Property sales to the overseas (non-Cypriot) market during March 2019 rose by 9% compared to the same month last year with 368 contracts of sale deposited compared with 337 in March 2017.

Although sales in Nicosia and Limassol fell by 27% and 17% respectively, they rose in the remaining three districts.

Sales in Larnaca rose by 45%, sales in Famagusta rose 32% and sales in Paphos rose by 22%.

During the first quarter of 2019 sales to the overseas market rose 11% compared to the first quarter of 2018.

Total Overseas Property Sale Contracts – 2018/2019 Comparison

District Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Nicosia 2018 20 12 22 24 18 23 21 7 21 19 20 23
2019 34 30 16
Famagusta 2018 51 34 22 40 45 34 43 21 24 21 33 17
2019 21 29 29
Larnaca 2018 52 55 49 42 58 72 71 47 61 70 61 51
2019 60 43 71
Limassol 2018 118 104 115 84 113 131 120 88 76 113 148 89
2019 85 104 95
Paphos 2018 146 155 129 136 158 125 171 108 120 180 166 170
2019 157 180 157
Totals 2018 387 360 337 326 392 385 426 271 302 403 428 350
2019 357 386 368

Sales to EU nationals

Property sales to EU nationals rose 11% in March compared with the same month last year.

Sales in Limassol fell by 38% and they remained static in Nicosia. However, sales in Larnaca rose 133%, while sales in Famagusta and Paphos rose by 75% and 11% respectively.

During the first quarter of 2019 sales to EU nationals have risen 13% compared to the first quarter of 2018.

Foreign (EU) Property Sale Contracts – 2018/2019 Comparison

District Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Nicosia 2018 10 8 8 10 9 8 11 5 10 8 7 15
2019 14 14 9
Famagusta 2018 15 24 8 12 19 16 20 9 0 7 13 6
2019 9 6 14
Larnaca 2018 9 9 9 6 9 20 15 11 15 13 11 19
2019 12 12 21
Limassol 2018 15 17 32 17 19 22 25 24 11 27 38 20
2019 16 25 20
Paphos 2018 41 58 55 49 70 60 79 55 49 91 74 73
2019 56 72 61
Totals 2018 90 116 113 94 126 126 150 104 85 146 143 135
2019 107 129 125

Sales to non-EU nationals

Sales to non-EU nationals in March rose 8% compared with March 2018.

Although sales in Nicosia and Limassol fell by 46% and 10% respectively, these falls were more than compensated by increases in Paphos (+30%), Larnaca (+25%) and Famagusta (+12%).

During the first quarter of 2019 sales to non-EU nationals have declined 2% compared to the first quarter of 2018.

While sales in Nicosia doubled and sales in Larnaca rose by 12%, they fell in all the other districts.

Sales in Famagusta fell by 67%, while sales in Limassol and Paphos fell by 33% and 4% respectively.

Foreign (Non-EU) Property Sale Contracts – 2018/2019 Comparison

District Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Nicosia 2018 10 4 13 14 9 15 10 2 11 11 13 8
2019 20 17 7
Famagusta 2018 36 10 14 28 26 18 23 12 24 14 20 9
2019 12 23 15
Larnaca 2018 43 46 40 36 49 52 56 36 46 57 50 32
2019 48 31 50
Limassol 2018 103 87 83 67 94 109 95 64 65 87 110 69
2019 69 79 75
Paphos 2018 105 97 74 87 88 65 92 53 71 89 92 97
2019 101 108 96
Totals 2018 297 244 224 232 266 259 276 167 217 257 285 215
2019 250 257 243

Analysis of property sales since 2000

Cyprus Property Sale Contracts 2000 – 2019

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
20181 4,367 4,875 47.3% 9,242
2019 (March)
1,111 1,255 47.0% 2,366
Totals
66,502 153,645 30.2% 220,147

1 The Department of Lands & Surveys has advised that overseas sales in 2018 and subsequent year should not be compared to sales in previous years due to changes in the methodology used to classify ‘Aliens’ (foreigners).

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