DECEMBER saw rise of 14 percent in the number of property sale contracts deposited at Land Registry offices across Cyprus compared to December 2018 with the annual total reaching 10,366; the highest number recorded since 2008 according to official figures published by the Department of Lands and Surveys.
Property sales – December 2019
During December a total of 910 contracts deposited compared to 800 in December 2018. Although the numbers in Paphos and Limassol fell by 4% and 2% respectively, they rose in the remaining three districts.
Property ales in Larnaca rose by 57%, while those in Famagusta and Nicosia (the capital) rose by 39% and 37% respectively.
Total Property Sale Contracts – 2018/2019 Comparison
| District | Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicosia | 2018 | 146 | 96 | 126 | 117 | 153 | 146 | 176 | 91 | 118 | 145 | 161 | 131 |
| 2019 | 161 | 194 | 131 | 169 | 213 | 145 | 174 | 103 | 137 | 183 | 208 | 180 | |
| Famagusta | 2018 | 48 | 52 | 40 | 52 | 79 | 61 | 61 | 50 | 45 | 57 | 47 | 48 |
| 2019 | 53 | 48 | 45 | 96 | 87 | 43 | 49 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 48 | 64 | |
| Larnaca | 2018 | 112 | 99 | 116 | 83 | 113 | 133 | 112 | 94 | 121 | 116 | 143 | 103 |
| 2019 | 114 | 125 | 118 | 140 | 173 | 102 | 157 | 93 | 102 | 160 | 122 | 162 | |
| Limassol | 2018 | 225 | 256 | 314 | 246 | 282 | 338 | 314 | 262 | 251 | 289 | 344 | 290 |
| 2019 | 251 | 256 | 287 | 428 | 546 | 219 | 286 | 196 | 240 | 228 | 296 | 284 | |
| Paphos | 2018 | 164 | 163 | 172 | 157 | 201 | 180 | 233 | 156 | 152 | 204 | 230 | 230 |
| 2019 | 187 | 211 | 185 | 224 | 404 | 205 | 230 | 166 | 173 | 192 | 233 | 220 | |
| Totals | 2018 | 695 | 666 | 768 | 655 | 828 | 858 | 896 | 653 | 687 | 811 | 925 | 800 |
| 2019 | 766 | 834 | 766 | 1057 | 1423 | 714 | 896 | 588 | 662 | 813 | 907 | 910 |
Annual sales
The total number of property sales during 2019 was the highest on record since 2008 (when 14,667 properties were sold) with sales rising in all districts.
In percentage terms, Nicosia saw the largest increase with sales up 44%. In equal second place were Larnaca and Paphos, where annual sales rose by 17%. Meanwhile sales in Limassol and Famagusta rose by 3% and 2% respectively.
Looking at the actual number of properties sold in each district, Limassol came in first place with the total number of properties sold reaching 3,517. Paphos came in second with 2,630 sales, with Nicosia in third place with 1,998 sales, Larnaca in fourth with 1,568 sales and finally Famagusta with 653 sales.