DURING December 2014, a total of 454 contracts to purchase immovable property were deposited at Land Registry offices across Cyprus; a 20 per cent increase compared with December 2013 when 379 contracts were deposited according to official statistics.
Of those 454 contracts, 97 (21%) were deposited in favour of overseas buyers, while the remaining 357 (79%) were deposited in favour of domestic buyers.
However, this increase was totally attributable to domestic sales which rose by more than a third compared to December 2013, while sales to the overseas market faltered and fell by 14 per cent.
Overall sales in 2014 stood at 4,527; an increase of 20% compared with 2013.
Domestic sales
Sales to the domestic market rose sharply, increasing 34 per cent compared to December 2013.
Although sales in the capital Nicosia fell (-26%), they improved in all other districts. Paphos headed the field with an 82% increase in sales, followed by Limassol (+13%) and Larnaca (+7%) and in Famagusta, where no sales were achieved in December 2013, 43 properties were sold.
Property sales to the domestic market in 2014 stood at 3,334; an increase of 20% compared to 2013 when 2,750 were sold.
Overseas sales
Sales to the overseas market fell 14% compared to December 2013. Although sales improved in Larnaca (+229%) and Paphos (+51%) they fell in Famagusta (-86%), Nicosia (-85%) and Limassol (-36%).
Property sales to the overseas market in 2014 stood at 1,193; an increase of 17% compared to 2013 when 1,017 were sold.