Paphos sales plummet 70 per cent

Property sales in Paphos to non-EU citizens plummeted 70% in November compared to November 2019 following the cancellation of Cyprus’ Citizen-by-Investment (aka Golden Passport) scheme according to figures from the Department of Lands & Surveys.

Famagusta and Larnaca also reported falls of 65% and 46% respectively, but sales in Limassol and Nicosia (the capital) remained steady.

The total number of sales to non-EU citizens during November fell 46%.

Foreign (Non-EU) Property Sale Contracts – 2019/2020 Comparison

District	Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Nicosia	2019	20	17	7	13	25	8	8	8	15	10	6	12
	2020	10	11	6	6	7	4	5	3	7	21	6
Famagusta	2019	12	23	15	21	32	10	30	3	14	12	26	15
	2020	34	15	15	1	16	4	3	21	23	11	9
Larnaca	2019	48	31	50	49	70	49	51	27	29	56	39	51
	2020	50	41	39	11	28	32	40	19	28	38	21
Limassol	2019	69	79	75	116	189	55	82	45	39	54	60	47
	2020	54	59	56	37	25	37	43	39	41	104	60
Paphos	2019	101	108	96	107	160	77	103	54	78	61	108	79
	2020	73	82	30	27	68	65	43	36	39	76	32
Totals	2019	250	257	243	306	476	199	274	137	175	193	239	204
	2020	221	208	146	82	144	142	134	118	138	250	128

In the first eleven months of the year property sales to non-EU nationals have fallen 38% compared to the same period last year.

Sales to EU nationals

Property sales to EU citizens fared better, falling by just 1% in November compared to November 2019.

Although sales in Larnaca and Paphos fell by 29% and 3% respectively, they held steady in Nicosia and rose 33% in Famagusta and 8% in Limassol.

Foreign (EU) Property Sale Contracts – 2019/2020 Comparison

District	Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Nicosia	2019	14	14	9	19	20	16	13	5	8	10	15	14
	2020	9	12	9	3	10	7	16	11	14	16	15
Famagusta	2019	9	6	14	17	10	8	17	14	10	5	9	23
	2020	6	14	10	3	4	9	28	9	6	11	12
Larnaca	2019	12	12	21	18	20	11	16	13	6	23	14	23
	2020	21	13	11	0	3	6	19	17	14	14	10
Limassol	2019	16	25	20	21	28	26	27	17	25	30	26	25
	2020	28	30	11	12	14	15	28	12	39	33	28
Paphos	2019	56	72	61	48	69	59	73	58	61	95	61	72
	2020	40	60	25	24	21	18	44	32	49	42	59
Totals	2019	107	129	125	123	147	120	146	107	110	133	125	157
	2020	104	129	66	42	52	55	135	81	122	116	124

In the first eleven months of the year property sales to EU nationals have fallen 25% compared to the same period last year.

Total overseas sales

The combined total of sales to EU citizens and non-EU citizens during November accounted for 35% of all sales during the month – and fell by 31% compared to November 2019.

While sales rose by 2% in Limassol and held steady in Nicosia, they fell by 46% in Paphos, 42% in Larnaca and 40% in Famagusta.

Total Overseas Property Sale Contracts – 2019/2020 Comparison

District	Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Nicosia	2019	34	30	16	32	45	24	21	13	23	20	21	26
	2020	19	23	15	9	17	11	21	14	21	37	21
Famagusta	2019	21	29	29	38	42	18	47	17	24	17	35	38
	2020	40	29	25	4	20	13	31	30	29	22	21
Larnaca	2019	60	43	71	67	90	60	67	40	35	79	53	74
	2020	71	54	50	11	31	38	59	36	42	52	31
Limassol	2019	85	104	95	137	217	81	109	62	64	84	86	72
	2020	82	89	67	49	39	52	71	51	80	137	88
Paphos	2019	157	180	157	155	229	136	176	112	139	126	169	151
	2020	113	142	55	51	89	83	87	68	88	118	91
Totals	2019	257	386	368	429	623	519	420	244	285	326	364	361
	2020	325	337	212	124	196	197	269	199	260	366	252

During the first eleven months of the year property sales to the overseas market have fallen 34% compared to the same period last year, with sales down in all districts.

Property sales to the domestic (Cypriot) market

Domestic sales also weakened in November, falling by 13% compared to the same month last year.

While sales in Famagusta rose by 131% and sales in Larnaca and Nicosia rose by 19% and 5% respectively, they fell 63% in Famagusta and 34% in Limassol.

Domestic Property Sale Contracts – 2019/2020 Comparison

District	Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Nicosia	2019	127	164	115	137	168	121	153	90	114	163	187	154
	2020	178	155	124	29	83	167	230	143	174	190	196
Famagusta	2019	32	19	16	58	45	25	2	13	16	33	13	26
	2020	10	18	16	6	8	43	29	9	30	58	30
Larnaca	2019	54	82	47	73	83	42	90	53	67	81	69	88
	2020	76	64	56	13	28	71	72	51	75	101	82
Limassol	2019	166	152	192	291	329	138	177	134	176	144	210	212
	2020	98	136	76	23	73	150	183	142	173	265	139
Paphos	2019	30	31	28	69	175	69	54	54	34	66	64	69
	2020	55	29	26	21	31	18	42	17	74	84	24
Totals	2019	409	448	398	628	800	395	476	344	407	487	543	549
	2020	417	402	298	92	223	449	556	362	526	698	471

During the first eleven months of the year domestic sales have fallen 16%. With the exception of Nicosia, where an 8% rise has been recorded, sales in the remaining four districts has fallen.

Analysis of property sales since 2000

Cyprus Property Sale Contracts 2000 – 2020

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	4,482	5,884	43.2%	10,366
2020 (Nov)	2,737	4,494	37.9%	7,231
Totals	72,610	162,768	30.8%	235,378

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).

2 COMMENTS

Brian McSkimming December 7, 2020 At 18:40

As one of the innocent victims, who suffered significant financial loss due to corruption in the property market in Cyprus, I can’t help but smile when I read this report. The developers, legal system and government officials should hold their heads in shame making Cyprus a place to avoid.

The country is sadly tarnished and will be avoided by potential buyers until they get their “house” in order and compensate buyers and rebuild trust.
- David December 11, 2020 At 22:36
  
  Sorry for your loss.
  Would you like to share more info about your case so at least others can learn from your sad experience?
  
  Thank you so much

Comments are closed.

Sales to EU nationals

Total overseas sales

Property sales to the domestic (Cypriot) market

Analysis of property sales since 2000

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