Following the termination of the Citizen-by-Investment (aka Golden Passport) scheme at the start of the month in the aftermath of Al Jazeera Cyprus Papers, property sales fell by a fifth in November compared with the same month last year.
In November 2020 a total of 723 contracts for the sale of property were deposited at Land Registry offices across the island compared to 907 in November 2019; a all of 20%, which followed monthly increases of 14% in September and 31% in October.
With the exception of Famagusta and Nicosia, where sales rose by 6% and 4% respectively, they fell in the remaining three districts.
The two districts most popular with overseas investors took the full brunt of the fall with sales in Paphos falling 51% and sales in Limassol falling 23%. Property sales in Larnaca fell by 7%.
Total Property Sale Contracts – 2019/2020 Comparison
District | Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nicosia | 2019 | 161 | 194 | 131 | 169 | 213 | 145 | 174 | 103 | 137 | 183 | 208 | 180 |
2020 | 197 | 178 | 139 | 38 | 100 | 178 | 251 | 157 | 195 | 227 | 217 | ||
Famagusta | 2019 | 53 | 48 | 45 | 96 | 87 | 43 | 49 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 48 | 64 |
2020 | 50 | 47 | 41 | 10 | 28 | 56 | 60 | 39 | 59 | 80 | 51 | ||
Larnaca | 2019 | 114 | 125 | 118 | 140 | 173 | 102 | 157 | 93 | 102 | 160 | 122 | 162 |
2020 | 147 | 118 | 106 | 24 | 59 | 109 | 131 | 87 | 117 | 153 | 113 | ||
Limassol | 2019 | 251 | 256 | 287 | 428 | 546 | 219 | 286 | 196 | 240 | 228 | 296 | 284 |
2020 | 180 | 225 | 143 | 72 | 112 | 202 | 254 | 193 | 253 | 402 | 227 | ||
Paphos | 2019 | 187 | 211 | 185 | 224 | 404 | 205 | 230 | 166 | 173 | 192 | 233 | 220 |
2020 | 168 | 171 | 81 | 72 | 120 | 101 | 129 | 85 | 162 | 202 | 115 | ||
Totals | 2019 | 766 | 834 | 766 | 1057 | 1423 | 714 | 896 | 588 | 662 | 813 | 907 | 910 |
2020 | 742 | 739 | 510 | 216 | 419 | 646 | 825 | 561 | 786 | 1,064 | 723 |
Total property sales – year to date
In the first eleven months of 2020 property sales are down by 24% compared to the same period in 2019.
While sales in Nicosia have risen slightly (3%) compared to the numbers sold during the same period last year, other districts have yet to return to 2019 levels.
Sales in Paphos are down 42% and 30% in Limassol, while sales in Larnaca and Famagusta and are down 17% and 12% respectively.
The Department of Lands and Surveys has yet to publish a breakdown of the figures showing domestic and foreign sales. We’ll bring you the figures as soon as they’re published.
Would be interesting to see whether only the number of sales declined or prices as well. And for which types of property.
Unfortunately, no figures are published about the types of property sold. But take a look at the article The bottom has fallen out of luxury real estate