The number of property sales in Cyprus continued to rise inOctober, the number of contracts deposited to the Land Regisrty offices increasedby 6% compared with October 2017.
In October a total of 811 sale’s contracts of residentialand commercial properties and land were deposited at Land Registry offices,compared with the 768 deposited during October 2017. Of the 768 contractsdeposited, 403 (49.7%) were for properties purchased by non-Cypriots.
Figures show a continuous improvement in economic conditionscombined with government measures such as citizenship by investment scheme.
Although sales in Limassol fell by 6% compared with October2017, they rose in all other areas. As a percentage, Nicosia led sales growthby 24%, followed by Famagusta, where sales grew by 12%. Meanwhile, sales inPaphos and Larnaca grew by 11% and 5% respectively.
In the period from January to October 2018, sales increasedby 19%, while the number of sales contracts rose to 7,517 compared to the 6,291deposited in the same period last year. This year, sales in Famagusta haverisen 34%, while sales in Nicosia have risen 33%. Meanwhile, sales in Limassol,Paphos and Larnaca have risen 20%, 13% and 9% respectively.
The Land Registry figures reveal that a total of 403 propertysale contracts were deposited by non-Cypriots during October 2018. Of those 146were deposited by EU citizens and the remaining 257 by non-EU citizens, but wecannot quantify the number of non-EU citizens who bought property with a viewto applying for citizenship. Paphos remained the most popular district with theoverseas market with the number of property sales contracts deposited reaching180. Limassol recorded 113, Larnaca 70, Famagusta 21 and Nicosia 19.
In the first ten months of 2018, a total of 3,589 purchaseand sale contracts were signed by foreign buyers, of which 1,150 were depositedby EU citizens and 2,439 non-EU citizens. Limassol remains the most populardestination for non-EU citizens, and Paphos is in great demand among EUcitizens.