The real estate market is not afraid of crises

The Cypriot real estate market is recording rapid growth despite the uncertainty that prevails in the economic environment due to the energy crisis, the increase in interest rates and the war in the Middle East which is driving most sectors of the economy into the red.

As evidenced by Land Registry figures for sales documents, the 10 months of 2023 were the best for the sector since 2008.

According to the data also presented in StatWatch , the sales documents filed in the land registry in the tenth month of 2023, amount to 12825 pieces, from 10781 last year, marking an increase of 36.2%.

This is the best ten-month period since 2008, when sales reached 13,261 units.

The Senior Manager of the Land Development and Construction Sector of KPMG Cyprus, Marios Kapnisis, notes to StockWatch that the real estate market continues its upward trajectory, recording an increase of 19% compared to the same period of the previous year.

"It is interesting that all the provinces, except for Nicosia (with an increase of 8%), show a double-digit increase, with Larnaca standing out with a 32% increase compared to the corresponding period last year. The various development projects and infrastructure projects that have been announced in recent years in the province of Larnaca, seem to give additional impetus to the market and strengthen investment interest", he emphasizes.

He points out that Limassol continues to dominate in absolute numbers (4,225), maintaining a noticeable difference of more than 45% from the second province, Paphos (2,878), and remains the most popular choice for investment.

"Although the ten-month data is encouraging for the sector, we cannot draw certain conclusions due to the recent geopolitical developments in the region. Undoubtedly, these events are expected to affect both the real estate sector and the Cypriot economy, with uncertainty about the effects", he emphasizes.

The market benefits from developments

APS (Andreou Property Strategy) CEO Andreas Andreou tells StockWatch that the real estate market appears to be benefiting from the current economic and geopolitical conditions and we are not expected to see a dramatically different picture in the near future.

On the contrary, he points out, the growth of the education, health and technology sectors creates a strong development framework in the real estate market that offers a long-term horizon of intense investment activity.

According to Mr. Andreou, although the sales documents only show part of the whole transaction picture since they do not include real estate transfers made during the same period, they nevertheless seem to reflect the same trend as the transfers.

“And the trend appears to be clearly upward over the period under review for all provinces. "Ignoring the absolute numbers, Larnaca is the champion in attracting new investment interest after seeing jumps in growth after the end of the pandemic, with Paphos being essentially second, while the course of Famagusta is also noteworthy," he notes.

He adds that Nicosia although remains a fundamentally strong market, however from the end of 2022 until 2-3 months ago was in a relapse – something that reversed after the summer.

"Of all the provinces, Limassol is the one that, despite its strengthening, started to show some signs of fatigue similar to those shown by Nicosia a year ago," he points out.

Compared to the first ten months of 2019, real estate sales show a 50% increase.

The biggest increase of 32.2% was registered by Larnaca this year, with sales documents amounting to 2612, since 1976 last year.

It is followed by Paphos where sales increased by 25.3% reaching 2878, from 2297. A 21.8% increase was also seen in property sales in Famagusta, 14.17% in Limassol and 8.3% in Nicosia.

As for October, sales documents filed stood at 1306 compared to 1171 in October 2022, registering an increase of 12%. In September the increase was 15%.

Source: stockwatch.com.cy

Photo: stockwatch.com.cy