Foreign buyers take a bigger share of Cyprus property market

Nigel Howarth
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Foreign buyers take a bigger share of Cyprus property market

Foreign buyers are continuing to strengthen their position in the Cyprus property market, with international demand growing faster than the market overall, according to a report by Delphi Properties.

Between January and July 2026, foreign nationals signed 4,980 contracts of sale, marking a 20.3% increase on the same period in 2025. By comparison, the number of contracts signed by all buyers rose by 14.1% over the same period.

Foreign buyers now account for 41.3% of all contracts lodged in Cyprus, up from 39.2% a year earlier. The latest figures suggest international demand is not simply following the wider market. It is gaining ground.

The recovery has also gathered pace. Foreign contracts fell 14.9% in 2024 before rising 16.1% in 2025. July 2026 then set a new monthly record, with 829 foreign contracts.

EU buyers drive the latest growth

The strongest change is in the mix of foreign buyers. Non-EU buyers remain the larger group, but EU buyers are growing faster.

Non-EU purchases increased 18.9% in the first seven months of 2026. EU purchases rose by 23.0%.

As a result, the non-EU share of the Cyprus property market has fallen from 72.6% in 2023 to 66.1% this year. The report says this shift may make demand less concentrated around changes in one country’s tax rules.

However, the data does not identify individual nationalities within the non-EU group. It therefore cannot show the specific role played by buyers from the UK, Israel, Lebanon, Russia, China or the Gulf.

Paphos leads the foreign buyers market

Paphos is now Cyprus’s largest market for foreign buyers. It recorded 1,667 foreign contracts between January and July, an increase of 28.4% year on year.

EU demand is a major factor. EU purchases in Paphos rose 46.4%, compared with 19.2% growth among non-EU buyers.

Larnaca also recorded strong growth, with foreign contracts up 24.4%. EU purchases there increased by 36.0%.

Limassol tells a different story. Foreign contracts rose 13.6%, but the wider market grew by 19.8%. Foreign buyers therefore lost share despite strong overall activity.

Foreign contracts in Limassol also remain slightly below their 2023 level. The report says the district’s current growth is being driven more by domestic and relocation buyers than by foreign purchasers.

Demand is rising, but delivery is a concern

The report finds no clear evidence that recent tax changes have caused a short-term rush into Cyprus property. Foreign contracts have increased year on year for six quarters, with no visible break around the policy dates examined.

That points towards structural demand, although the report warns that the EU-led growth pattern is only one year old and needs more time to prove itself.

There is another issue for developers and buyers. Foreign property transfers rose only 6.9% in the first seven months of 2026, compared with 20.3% growth in contracts.

There were 2,683 completed transfers against 4,980 contracts. The resulting gap is the widest in four years.

For the Cyprus real estate sector, the next test may therefore be delivery rather than demand. If the gap widens again, buyers may need to place greater focus on developer due diligence and the ability to complete homes on time.

The report says the key indicators to watch are whether Paphos can sustain its rapid EU growth, whether the contracts-to-transfers gap narrows and whether foreign activity in Limassol finally moves above its 2023 level.

(Note: This article is based on a comprehensive report by Delphi Properties entitled ‘Who Is Buying Cyprus? Foreign Buyers 2023–2026′, which includes Department of Lands & Surveys data and the report’s analysis. The report cautions that contracts measure the number of transactions rather than values, so the figures do not show how Cyprus property prices are moving.)

Cyprus housing crisis: the 25,000 homes it still needs

Yiannis Misirlis
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Cyprus housing crisis: the 25,000 homes it still needs

There is one number that, in my view, should change the way we discuss housing in Cyprus: 25,000 homes.

These are not homes needed over the next few years because of population growth. They represent, according to a recent detailed report by Phileleftheros journalist Charalambos Zakos, the housing supply gap Cyprus was already carrying at the end of 2024.

The report, titled When Cyprus Stopped Building – The Five Years That Damaged Housing, is based on data from the Statistical Service of Cyprus. And the figure matters.

A decade of lost housing construction

The global financial crisis, followed by Cyprus’ banking crisis in 2013, did more than cut incomes, increase unemployment and damage the banking system. It also caused a dramatic collapse in new home construction.

In 2008, 18,195 new homes were completed. By 2013, that figure had fallen to just 3,833. In 2015, it dropped again to 2,390.

Within seven years, new housing output had fallen by almost 87%. But the homes that were not built during those years did not simply disappear from today’s housing equation.

Using a conservative benchmark of 10 new residential units per 1,000 people, the Phileleftheros analysis estimates that the accumulated shortfall reached about 30,000 homes at one point.

Despite the recovery that followed, the gap was still estimated at 24,597 homes at the end of 2024.

Why the housing gap matters today

This helps explain part of the housing pressure Cyprus is facing today. The country is not simply trying to meet current demand. It is also trying to make up for a decade of lost housing production.

That creates a difficult challenge. If Cyprus needs a certain number of new homes each year just to keep pace with population growth and the creation of new households, returning to that level will not reduce the existing shortage.

It will only stop the gap from getting bigger.

To close the shortfall, housing construction needs to remain above current demand for several years. That means a sustained increase in supply, rather than a short-lived surge in building activity.

More construction, but not another property bubble

This does not mean returning to the excesses of 2007 and 2008. Cyprus does not need another property bubble.

It needs a planned and sustainable period of higher housing production. The aim should be to increase supply gradually enough to meet both new demand and the homes that were never built during the years of economic crisis.

There are encouraging signs. In 2025, building permits covered 16,171 residential units, the highest number since 2009. Momentum in building permits also remained strong in 2026.

That should be recognised. But a building permit is not the same as a completed home.

In 2024, just 8,692 homes were completed. At the same time, Cyprus’ population grew by about 8.9% between 2019 and 2024, while the housing stock increased by about 7.3%.

In other words, housing supply continued to grow more slowly than the population.

Delays are now a housing issue

This is why today’s delays matter more than we might think.

When a planning or building permit takes too long, when a project is held up by a series of procedures, or when construction, finance and land costs rise, the impact goes beyond the individual developer.

It also delays the country’s effort to address an existing housing shortage.

For that reason, we should change the way we assess housing policy. The question should not simply be: how many homes did we approve this year?

We should also ask how many additional homes were actually delivered to the market beyond those needed to meet new demand.

Cyprus needs a sustained increase in supply

That means faster and more predictable planning and building approvals. It means making more land available for development in areas where demand is strongest.

It also means incentives for Build-to-Rent and new housing, wider use of modern construction methods, and careful consideration of any new measures that increase the cost of delivering homes.

The housing crisis was not created in two years. It will not be solved in two years either.

It requires consistency, long-term planning and, above all, more homes being built than are required simply to maintain the status quo.

The previous crisis showed us what happens when a country stops building.

The mistake now would be to know the size of the gap and still fail to give the market the conditions it needs to close it.

About the author

Yiannis Misirlis is the President of the Cyprus Property Developers Association

Cyprus housing crisis: the lost decade of homebuilding

Nigel Howarth
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Cyprus housing crisis: the lost decade of homebuilding

The Cyprus housing crisis did not begin with today’s soaring property prices. It began when the country stopped building and, more than a decade after the financial crisis and haircut, the consequences are becoming impossible to ignore.

The shortage of homes is pushing up prices and rents, with its roots firmly planted in the collapse of residential construction that followed the financial crisis. That crisis, compounded by the deposit haircut, pushed Cyprus off the investment map and out of international markets.

The numbers tell a stark story. Between 2012 and 2018, the supply of new homes collapsed, leaving thousands of properties that would have been needed to meet future demand unbuilt. The result is a housing market now trying to catch up with a deficit created years ago – and the gap remains enormous.

The five years that changed Cyprus housing

The damage was not done overnight. In 2008, at the peak of the construction boom, Cyprus completed 18,195 new residential units. A year later, the figure had fallen to 16,644, before dropping to 13,434 in 2010 and 9,091 in 2011.

Then came the collapse. Just 6,565 homes were completed in 2012, followed by 3,833 in 2013 and 2,718 in 2014. By 2015, only 2,390 new homes were completed. In seven years, residential completions had fallen by almost 87%. That was not simply a normal market correction; it was a collapse in the country’s ability to produce new housing, with consequences that were bound to emerge long after the economy began to recover.

The real warning was hiding in the building permits

Completed homes show what the market delivered. Building permits show what it was preparing to deliver next, and here the picture is even more disturbing.

In 2009, permits covered 16,688 residential units, while the figure stood at 14,312 in 2010. By 2011, it had fallen to 8,839, dropping to 5,879 in 2012 and 4,141 in 2013. By 2014, permits covered only 2,855 residential units. For a growing country, that was a huge warning sign because every home that was not approved and built would eventually be missing from the market.

Cyprus created a housing hole – and never fully filled it

Using a conservative benchmark of 10 residential units per 1,000 people, the scale of the missing supply becomes clear. Between 2011 and 2024, Cyprus would have been expected to issue permits for around 125,934 residential units. Instead, permits were issued for only 101,337, leaving a difference of 24,597 homes.

Nearly 25,000 residential units.

That is the size of the hole left behind by years of weak construction. The most damaging period was concentrated in just five years: between 2015 and 2019, the net production gap was about 16,400 residential units, representing roughly two-thirds of the shortfall still evident at the end of 2024.

This is the part of the housing crisis that is often overlooked. Prices did not create all of the problem, nor did foreign buyers or the recent surge in construction costs. A large part of today’s shortage was built into the market years ago, when Cyprus dramatically reduced the number of homes it was producing.

The market has recovered – the shortage has not.

There is no question that construction has recovered. Building permits covered 9,627 residential units in 2019, rising to 10,506 in 2021, 11,041 in 2023 and 11,329 in 2024.

Then came another major jump. In 2025, permits covered 16,171 residential units, 42.7% higher than in 2024 and the highest figure since 2009.

On the face of it, that sounds like good news. But there is a crucial catch: a building permit is not a completed home. It does not put a key in a buyer’s hand, give a family somewhere to live or immediately increase the number of properties available to rent.

It is future supply. Cyprus therefore cannot build its way out of today’s housing shortage overnight. Even a major increase in permits will take time to translate into completed homes and occupied properties.

The population kept growing while housing supply fell behind

The pressure becomes even clearer when population growth is taken into account. From 2019 to 2024, Cyprus’s population increased from about 902,400 to 983,000, representing growth of roughly 8.9%. Over the same period, the country’s housing stock increased from about 482,000 to 517,000 homes, a rise of approximately 7.3%.

In other words, the population was growing faster than the housing stock. That is exactly the kind of imbalance that puts pressure on prices and rents.

The contrast with earlier decades is striking. Between 1995 and 2011, the population grew by about 31%, while the housing stock grew by 69%. Homes were being added at more than twice the rate of population growth.

That relationship has now changed dramatically.

One home for every 113 people

The most striking evidence comes from comparing completed homes with the population. In 2008, Cyprus completed 18,195 homes for a population of roughly 796,900. That meant 22.8 new homes for every 1,000 people, or roughly one new home for every 44 people in a single year.

By 2024, only 8,692 homes were completed for a population of around 983,000. That equated to just 8.8 homes per 1,000 people, or approximately one new home for every 113 people.

The rate of new housing delivery per head was therefore around 61% below the level recorded in 2008. The 2008 figure was exceptional and should not be treated as a normal benchmark, but the comparison nevertheless exposes the scale of the change: Cyprus has a much larger population yet is producing far fewer homes for each person.

The housing crisis is older than the headlines suggest

This matters because the political and property debate often focuses on what has happened recently. House prices are blamed, foreign demand is blamed, construction costs are blamed and planning delays are blamed. All may have a role, but the figures point to something deeper.

Cyprus spent years dramatically under-producing new homes. The consequences have arrived with a delay. The missing homes did not simply disappear from a spreadsheet; they disappeared from the housing market.

They represent properties that could have housed families, young people and workers. They represent supply that could have helped moderate rents and prices. And they represent a construction deficit that cannot be repaired simply by announcing more building permits today.

Cyprus is now paying for yesterday’s decision

The central lesson is brutally simple: when a country stops building homes for years, the shortage eventually catches up with it.

Cyprus allowed residential construction to collapse after the financial crisis. The economy recovered, the property market recovered and foreign investment returned, but housing supply never fully repaired the damage.

By the end of 2024, the estimated shortfall was still close to 25,000 residential units. That is not simply a legacy of the past; it is part of the explanation for the housing pressures facing Cyprus today.

The construction cranes may be back and building permits may be rising, but the homes that were never built cannot be recovered. Until enough new homes are actually completed and occupied, Cyprus will continue to pay the price for the years when it stopped building.

(Based on an article by Charalambos Zakos, first published in Philenews)

Construction costs must be part of affordable housing

Yiannis Misirlis
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Construction costs must be part of affordable housing

The housing market already faces enough challenges. Housing supply is limited, planning and permitting times can be unreasonably long, land is expensive and finance costs have risen. At the same time, global supply chains have brought more disruption than stability in recent years. Now, construction material prices are rising again.

The latest figures from the Statistical Service should not be treated as just another economic indicator. In July, the Construction Materials Price Index rose 3.33% year on year, reaching 123 points, with 2021 set at 100. Some key materials used on building sites recorded even sharper increases. Electrical materials rose by 6.61%, plastics by 6.58%, aluminium and other metal products by 6.14%, and wood products by 5.12%.

It’s important to be precise. A 3.33% rise in material prices does not mean that the total cost of building a home has risen by the same amount. Materials are only one, although important, part of the final cost. The bigger issue is that this latest increase is not starting from a low base. The index is now about 23% above its 2021 level.

Construction costs and affordable housing: the missing link

This highlights an important part of Cyprus’ housing debate that is often overlooked. We rightly talk about house prices and rents. We talk far less about the cost of building the homes that people need.

Before a home reaches the market, it passes through a long process. This includes buying land, design, planning and permits, finance and, finally, construction. When costs rise at each stage, the pressure builds.

Some of that cost can be absorbed by the property developer or contractor. But once costs pass a certain point, a development may no longer be viable.

A project may be delayed or cancelled, reducing the supply of homes. Or it may go ahead at a higher cost, pushing up the final selling price. In both cases, the person who needs a home loses out. In the first case, there are fewer homes available. In the second, the homes that are available cost more.

Why delays matter

This is why construction costs must become a central part of the public debate on affordable housing. We cannot focus only on how to reduce the final price of a home. We must also look at how to reduce the costs that arise before that home reaches the market.

Planning and permitting provide a clear example. Every month of delay brings extra finance and administrative costs. It also increases exposure to further rises in the price of materials and services.

A development that could start today but instead starts one to three years later does not simply deliver homes later. In most cases, it also delivers them at a higher cost.

When this happens across the market, the result is both lower supply and higher costs. That is the worst possible combination for housing affordability.

Construction costs and affordable housing: what Cyprus can do

The solution is not to assume that the state can control global prices for metals, timber or plastics. It can, however, focus on the costs that can be influenced in Cyprus.

It can cut the time it takes to authorise permits and remove unnecessary procedures and duplication. It can support technology and modern construction methods that reduce both time and cost. It can also encourage more land and more homes in areas where demand is strongest.

Every new tax, fee or regulatory cost placed on the construction sector should also be assessed through one simple question: how much will it ultimately add to the cost of a home?

Affordable housing is not determined only by the price a buyer pays at the end. It is shaped much earlier, by the conditions in which a home is designed, approved and built.

If we genuinely want to tackle the housing crisis, we must give the same attention to the cost of creating a home as we give to its final price.

(Translated from an article by Yiannis Misirlis, President of the Cyprus Property Developers Association)

Fasouri School master plan moves forward in Limassol

Nigel Howarth
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Fasouri School master plan moves forward in Limassol

A major education and sports development known as Fasouri Academy and Sports Hub has reached the planning stage in Cyprus.

The master plan has been submitted to the relevant authorities for consideration. The proposed scheme is located in the Municipality of Kato Polemidia, near Limassol.

The project would include three school campuses covering the full education cycle, from pre-primary and primary education through to secondary school.

Each school would operate as a self-contained campus. Plans include modern classrooms, specialist science laboratories, libraries and facilities for art and music education.

Major sports hub planned alongside schools

The development would also feature a large sports centre designed to support both school and wider sporting activities.

Facilities would include a multi-purpose indoor hall, football and tennis pitches, a swimming pool and athletics track. The plans also include a gym, basketball courts, squash and padel courts, as well as recovery and support facilities.

Subject to certain conditions, the sports facilities could also be opened to the wider public. The aim would be to support physical education, sport and leisure activities in the surrounding area.

4,500 pupils planned for the development

According to the project study, the development would cover 307,844 sqm of usable land and provide capacity for around 4,500 pupils.

The scheme would employ 145 teaching and administrative staff. It would also include 643 car parking spaces and 57 spaces for buses.

The developer is seeking planning approval for the master plan as a whole. This approval would then provide the framework for separate planning and building applications covering the individual parts of the project.

Development raises environmental questions

The proposed scheme covers environmentally sensitive plots with a total area of about 360,000 sqm.

One of the main issues under discussion is the planning status of the site. Under the Statement of Policy for the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri, the plots fall within Z1 Protection Zone.

The designation is intended to protect areas of archaeological, natural and landscape value. It also covers forests, protected landscapes, geological features and rivers or streams.

A smaller part of the site falls within the Republic of Cyprus, where it is classified as agricultural land under the Γα2 zone.

More than 7,000 trees could be removed

The environmental impact of the project is also likely to attract attention.

A total of 10,707 trees have been recorded across the plots. Most are cypress trees, mandarin trees and pomegranate trees.

The plans propose removing 7,083 trees. This includes 4,309 pomegranate trees, 2,774 mandarin trees and rows of cypress trees.

A total of 3,624 fruit trees would be retained. As a compensatory measure, the project proposes planting 2,800 new trees, including 1,738 cypresses, 689 pines and 373 trees for urban landscaping.

Fasouri area already seeing rapid growth

The proposed school and sports hub is situated within the wider Fasouri area, which has undergone significant redevelopment in recent years, much of it on land formerly used for citrus groves.

Within a one-kilometre radius are Fasouri Watermania, My Mall Limassol and City of Dreams Mediterranean.

Other major projects are also under consideration or subject to ongoing studies include the Limassol Greens Golf Resort; a massive, €400 million luxury master-planned resort development comprising a total of 500 villas and 250 apartments/penthouses. Spanning 1.4 million square meters, it is the largest master-planned residential community project in the city’s history.

Other large residential schemes for the area have been proposed by Emerland Real Estate, Brightbuild Properties and AN Sky Garden.

If it goes ahead, the Fasouri School master plan would form part of a wider transformation of the western Limassol area, where education, leisure, tourism and residential development are increasingly concentrated.

Proposed Akamas housing projects could deliver 89 villas

Nigel Howarth
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Proposed Akamas housing projects could deliver 89 villas

Three proposed Akamas housing projects worth a combined €46 million could deliver 89 new villas in the Akamas area of Cyprus.

The projects are at different stages of the planning process and environmental impact studies have been submitted to the Department of Environment. Construction will depend on securing the required planning and environmental approvals.

25 villas in a €16m development

The first proposed housing project is a €16 million residential scheme in the Pegeia Municipal District, within the Municipality of Akamas.

It would comprise 25 two-storey, four-bedroom villas, each with a basement, private garden, parking space and swimming pool. The homes would have basement areas of between 128.65 sq m and 176.40 sq m, while total floor areas would vary across the different levels.

The development would include 25 private swimming pools, an internal road network, pedestrian paths, green areas and parking. A biological wastewater treatment plant is also planned.

The site covers approximately 24,013 sq m.

€16.7m scheme with 34 homes

The second proposal has an estimated value of €16.7 million and would provide 34 detached, two-storey homes on a site of around 24,689 sq m.

The development would include 23 four-bedroom homes and 11 three-bedroom homes. Most properties would be arranged over two floors, with floor areas ranging from 127.45 sq m to 224.23 sq m.

Nineteen homes would also include basements ranging from 79 sq m to 144.45 sq m.

The plans provide for 27 swimming pools, including 26 private pools and one shared pool. A biological wastewater treatment plant would also be included.

30 homes in a €13.3m development

The third project has an estimated value of €13.3 million and would comprise 30 homes and shared facilities.

The development is proposed in the Neo Chorio Municipal District in Paphos district, within the Municipality of Polis Chrysochous. The site is approximately 1km west of the Akamas peninsula.

The environmental study submitted in July 2026 states that the project does not fall within a Natura 2000 protected area.

The homes would include ground, semi-basement and first-floor levels. Plans also include a communal services building, wastewater treatment facilities, parking and landscaped areas.

Amenities would include private and shared swimming pools, jacuzzis, massage areas and pedestrian paths.

The overall site measures around 13,713 sq m, with a net area of 9,811 sq m. The plans provide for 1,773 sq m of public green space and 236 sq m for community facilities.

Significant addition to Akamas property pipeline

Together, the three proposals represent €46 million of potential residential investment and could add 89 villas to the Akamas area. That’s an average investment approaching €517,000/villa.

The projects reflect continued interest in residential development in the wider Paphos region. However, none can proceed until the necessary environmental and planning approvals have been secured.

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