Cyprus is a magnet for millions of entrepreneurs, while the real estate sector - despite any problems with the red loans of many entrepreneurs - began to recover last year. The naturalization incentives given by the Government are a lifeline as many foreigners choose Cyprus to invest.
Characteristic of the recovery of the industry are the towers that are mushrooming in Limassol, but also the various luxury projects presented by land development entrepreneurs throughout Cyprus.
According to the data of the Land Registry, there is a 33% increase in property sales with foreign buyers. Specifically, in 2017, 2406 sales documents were submitted with foreign buyers from 1813 in 2016. In total, for 2017, the number of sales documents submitted throughout Cyprus amounts to 8.734, compared to 7.063 last year. Therefore, the sales documents sold to foreigners correspond to 27,5% of the total transactions achieved in the year.
Paphos is first in the preferences of foreign buyers as for 2017 865 sales documents were submitted with foreign buyers, while in the Limassol provincial land registry 810. In free Famagusta 176 sales documents were submitted, while in Larnaca and Nicosia 384 and 171 respectively.
The largest increase in sales is presented by free Famagusta with 61%, followed by Paphos with 38% and Limassol with 32,6%. In Nicosia, sales increased by 30,5%, while in Larnaca 14,6%.
It is worth mentioning that the majority of transactions in luxury homes throughout Cyprus range between € 2 and € 3 million, while one in two foreigners buys an apartment in Limassol, according to a recent report by PwC "Cyprus Real Estate Market".
Regarding the total number of document shops, the highest number for 2017 is recorded by Limassol (3167), followed by Paphos (2135) and Nicosia (1464). Larnaca (1340) and Famagusta (628) have smaller numbers of document shops.
The increase in luxury real estate transactions was largely due to naturalization incentives, which have mainly attracted non-EU buyers (Chinese, Russians, Indians and UAE investors), and tax incentives such as lower real estate charges and abolition of the real estate tax.
Source: Phileleftheros / Dimitra Landou