Nationalities of foreign buyers driving Cyprus property market

New official data highlights the growing scale of property purchases in Cyprus by foreign buyers, with more than 1,600 residential properties, plots and fields changing hands in the past year.

The figures were submitted to the House of Representatives by Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou, in response to a parliamentary question from AKEL MP Christos Christofides.

According to the data, a total of 1,669 properties were sold to overseas buyers in the past twelve months, involving only natural persons (not companies). These transactions covered a range of property types, including residential properties, land plots and fields.

Paphos continues to top the table, recording the highest number of sales to both EU citizens and buyers from third countries. Larnaca and Limassol follow closely behind, while Nicosia and Famagusta have shown noticeable increases compared to previous years.

The largest groups of buyers were British, Russian, Israeli and Greek nationals, with residential properties remaining the most sought-after. However, the sale of land plots and agricultural fields has also seen a clear upward trend.

962 residential properties sold to foreign buyers

Between 15 September 2024 and 15 September 2025, a total of 962 registered residential properties were sold to foreign buyers. Of these, 385 were purchased by EU citizens, while 577 were bought by non-EU nationals.

• Paphos led with 189 sales to EU citizens and 313 to third-country buyers.
• Limassol followed with 70 and 102 respectively.
• Larnaca recorded 41 sales to EU buyers and 77 to non-EU buyers.
• Famagusta saw 43 and 71 sales respectively.
• Nicosia recorded 42 sales to EU nationals and 14 to non-EU nationals.

The Ministry clarified that the figures refer only to properties with registered titles, meaning some sales could not be traced where title modernisation is still pending.

Rising land and field sales to foreign buyers

During the same period, 350 land plots were sold nationwide, 218 to EU citizens and 132 to third-country buyers.

Limassol recorded the highest number of plot purchases by EU nationals (98), while most plot sales to non-EU nationals took place in Larnaca (84).

Additionally, 357 agricultural fields were sold, 276 to EU buyers and 81 to non-EU buyers. Limassol, Paphos and Nicosia were the busiest districts for EU purchasers, while non-EU buyers focussed on Nicosia and Limassol.

Nationalities dominating each district

• Nicosia: Greek nationals topped the list with 403 recorded property transactions.
• Famagusta: British buyers led with 220 purchases.
• Larnaca: Israeli citizens were the largest group, recording 850 transactions, followed by Lebanese buyers with 723.
• Limassol: Russian nationals were dominant with 846 sales, followed by Israelis with 571.
• Paphos: British nationals led significantly with 890 purchases, followed by Israeli buyers with 683.

The detailed tables submitted to Parliament by the Interior Minister are presented below.

Sales of registered residential properties

Sales of vacant building plots

Sales of fields/rural land

Top 10 foreign property ownership/nationality/district

Nicosia District

Famagusta District

Larnaca District

Limassol District

Paphos District