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11 Jul 11

Number Of Properties Sold In Cyprus Continues To Fall

A recent report by Land Registry shows the number of property contracts submitted to the department throughout Cyprus in June was 589 compared with the 864 deposited in the same period last year; a fall of almost 19% and the biggest monthly drop for more than two years.

Danny Henderson who has worked in Cyprus Real Estate for 8 years said "this is more bad news for the property industry in Cyprus. We have all felt that buyers have been a rare breed in recent months, but these figures confirm our worse fears. People have been taking a more realistic approach with the prices they are asking for their property but it has still be difficult to persuade buyers to take the plunge".

During the first half of 2011, property sales have fallen 20% to 3,577 from the 4,408 sold during the first half of 2010.

But even more worrying for the real estate industry is the fact that property sales in 2011 are worse than those of 2008; the year the market crashed, when just 3,848 properties were sold in the first half of the year.

During June, sales fell in all areas. Worst hit was Larnaca, where sales tumbled 46% compared with June last year. Larnaca was followed by Paphos (-41%), Famagusta (-39%), Nicosia (-34%) and Limassol (-7%).

The banks have tightened their lending criteria making home loans (mortgages) more difficult to obtain and high interest rates must also be a contributory factor in the drop in sales along with the general unease about the state of the Island's economy.