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Cyprus: It's not all doom and gloom

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Source: Catherine Deshayes

New figures have show that the property investment climate in Cyprus is currently very positive indeed.

According to the Lands and Surveys Department figures issued yesterday, 704 contracts of sale were deposited at Land Registries throughout Cyprus during February 2010; an increase of nearly 30% on the 558 contract deposited during February 2009.

In the first two months of this year, 1274 contracts were deposited and their overall numbers are up 27% compared to last year.

However, although these figures are encouraging, they are still down by almost 60% on the 2008 figures and it is unclear whether the increase has been driven by domestic or foreign demand.

In efforts to stimulate sales developers in some areas have been offering discounts of up to 30% and other sales incentives, but these will soon run out according to Solomon Kourouklides, president of the Cyprus Real Estate Agents' Association.

Speaking to Stockwatch last month, Mr Kourouklides said that signs of an improvement were still confused. "The latest increase is attributable to the opportunities in the market. Many Cypriot individuals and investors have bought properties from non-Cypriots or Cypriots who cannot pay off their loans. But these opportunities will run out.

"If the economic parameters remain the same, we believe that the market will remain at the same level as in 2009, while there is a possibility of a slight deterioration".

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