Cyprus Property market review 2018

In its annual review of the Cyprus property market, PwC reports that the value of transactions in the residential real estate sector reached 3.1 billion Euros, which accounted for 73% of the total market volume.

The annual review of the Cyprus property market PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS (PwC) contains information about the economy of Cyprus as a whole and a brief overview of the main events in the real estate market. Regarding activity levels, PwC reports that in 2018 the total number of Cyprus properties that passed through the Department of Land Resources and Surveys (DLS), in terms of both sale and transfer agreements, reached 15,800; an increase of 1.9% year on year. However, the total value of these properties fell by 7% to 4.2 billion euros, mainly due to PwC's decline in large-scale transactions, which fell by 240 million euros (31%) compared to 2017.

But compared to 2013, when only 5,800 transactions were made in Cyprus, investment in Cyprus property almost quadrupled in 2018.

(PwC notes that its analysis was based on data from the DLS — and that it excludes asset swaps, transactions through the sale of company shares or stock units, and other transactions that were not registered or properly registered with DLS.)

Residential Properties

In 2018, the value of the transaction in the residential real estate sector, which consisted of a total of 10,600 real estate objects, reached EUR 3.1 billion, which represents 73% of the total market (apartments 41% and houses 32%). Limassol accounted for 46% of transactions by value and 33% by the number of objects sold. (Nicosia accounted for a quarter of transactions, but only 16% in value terms, which indicates that on average, transactions have a lower cost than the coastal cities of Limassol and Paphos.)

 In 2018, foreigners acquired a total of 4,367 properties in Cyprus (according to the number of sale and purchase agreements deposited in the DLS). The largest share in sales contracts filed by foreign buyers was in Paphos (40%), followed by Limassol (30%). The two coastal regions together account for 70% of foreign transactions. Approximately 67% of properties acquired by foreigners are buyers outside the EU. In Limassol, 79% of foreign transactions relate to buyers from non-EU countries, while purchases of buyers from non-EU countries in Paphos and Larnaca accounted for 57% and 78%, respectively.

Elite real estate

The interest of foreign buyers, and mostly buyers from non-EU countries, continued to be the driving force of the market. The elite residential real estate segment (≥ 1.5 million Euros) was largely fueled by the continuation of government schemes that encourage investment in Cyprus.

The total number of elite residential real estate transactions for the year reached 324, which corresponds to an annual increase of 2%.

In terms of cost of sales, the segment amounted to 810 million euros, which slightly exceeds 800 million euros in 2017 and accounted for 19% of the total value of all real estate completed in Cyprus in 2018.