Following the termination of the Citizen-by-Investment (aka Golden Passport) scheme at the start of the month in the aftermath of Al Jazeera Cyprus Papers, property sales fell by a fifth in November compared with the same month last year.
In November 2020 a total of 723 contracts for the sale of property were deposited at Land Registry offices across the island compared to 907 in November 2019; a all of 20%, which followed monthly increases of 14% in September and 31% in October.
With the exception of Famagusta and Nicosia, where sales rose by 6% and 4% respectively, they fell in the remaining three districts.
The two districts most popular with overseas investors took the full brunt of the fall with sales in Paphos falling 51% and sales in Limassol falling 23%. Property sales in Larnaca fell by 7%.
Total Property Sale Contracts – 2019/2020 Comparison
| District | Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicosia | 2019 | 161 | 194 | 131 | 169 | 213 | 145 | 174 | 103 | 137 | 183 | 208 | 180 |
| 2020 | 197 | 178 | 139 | 38 | 100 | 178 | 251 | 157 | 195 | 227 | 217 | ||
| Famagusta | 2019 | 53 | 48 | 45 | 96 | 87 | 43 | 49 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 48 | 64 |
| 2020 | 50 | 47 | 41 | 10 | 28 | 56 | 60 | 39 | 59 | 80 | 51 | ||
| Larnaca | 2019 | 114 | 125 | 118 | 140 | 173 | 102 | 157 | 93 | 102 | 160 | 122 | 162 |
| 2020 | 147 | 118 | 106 | 24 | 59 | 109 | 131 | 87 | 117 | 153 | 113 | ||
| Limassol | 2019 | 251 | 256 | 287 | 428 | 546 | 219 | 286 | 196 | 240 | 228 | 296 | 284 |
| 2020 | 180 | 225 | 143 | 72 | 112 | 202 | 254 | 193 | 253 | 402 | 227 | ||
| Paphos | 2019 | 187 | 211 | 185 | 224 | 404 | 205 | 230 | 166 | 173 | 192 | 233 | 220 |
| 2020 | 168 | 171 | 81 | 72 | 120 | 101 | 129 | 85 | 162 | 202 | 115 | ||
| Totals | 2019 | 766 | 834 | 766 | 1057 | 1423 | 714 | 896 | 588 | 662 | 813 | 907 | 910 |
| 2020 | 742 | 739 | 510 | 216 | 419 | 646 | 825 | 561 | 786 | 1,064 | 723 |
Total property sales – year to date
In the first eleven months of 2020 property sales are down by 24% compared to the same period in 2019.
While sales in Nicosia have risen slightly (3%) compared to the numbers sold during the same period last year, other districts have yet to return to 2019 levels.
Sales in Paphos are down 42% and 30% in Limassol, while sales in Larnaca and Famagusta and are down 17% and 12% respectively.
The Department of Lands and Surveys has yet to publish a breakdown of the figures showing domestic and foreign sales. We’ll bring you the figures as soon as they’re published.