ACCORDING to figures released by the Cyprus Land Registry, property sales during May fell by 53.2%. This takes the reduction in sales since the beginning of the year to 60.7% compared to a year ago.
Sales in Famagusta and Paphos are down 71% and 66% respectively while in Larnaca they have fallen by 63%. The figures for Limassol and Nicosia were marginally better; sales fell by 54% and 55% respectively.
DISGRUNTLED property buyers believe that President Demetris Christofias may have cancelled his appearance at the opening a new municipal park in Peyia this week because of their planned demonstration.
The peaceful action was to highlight the government’s inaction over delays in the issuing of title deeds.
“We have embarrassed him, so he is putting his head in the sand and hoping we will go away,” said one would-be demonstrator.
“We won’t go anywhere and there may be even more of us next time.”
Christofias was scheduled to open the park on Thursday night. The Cyprus Property Action Group (CPAG) anticipating around 500 people to attend, most of them fighting for the issuing of their title deeds.
CPAG say they arranged the demo in response to “the failure of the government to respond to calls for them to address the many pitfalls of buying property in Cyprus“.
Hearing the news that President Christofias may be unable to attend, Cyprus Property Action Group co-ordinator Denis O’Hare said there will be another opportunity to demonstrate.
“The President seems unable to answer our letters, despite the fact that people are being defrauded but this doesn’t weaken our resolve.”
“We’re not happy to be saying these things and it saddens me that the situation has reached this stage. It really gives me no pleasure saying these things, but it’s a sign of our desperation.”
O’Hare believes that all the parties involved should all be able to sit down together, help each other and find a solution to the ongoing problem.
“Ultimately the casualties will be the image and economy of Cyprus, and that isn’t good for anyone,” he said.
“We may go ahead and stage a protest anyway to say ‘where are you Mr President?’”
A press release from the Peyia municipality said that the official opening of the park by the President had been postponed, due to an important commitment of the President, but that it would, take place at a later date.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009
THE DEMONSTRATION will go ahead as planned. The Cyprus Land and Property Owners Association (KSIA) will be supporting the event and media crews from Cyprus and the International Herald Tribune will be attending.
In order that the media camera crews can take advantage of better lighting conditions, those attending are asked to gather at 19:00 in front of the main building at Paliomonastiro Park in Peyia.
AS Clive Turner correctly points out in his recent letter (‘A little bit of research might spare buyers a lot of pain’, Sunday Mail, May 25), it’s a straightforward task for people to find out whether the property they have bought has been mortgaged by the developer. But he is missing the point.
People buying property in Cyprus use a lawyer to carry out the conveyance work – and they rely on that lawyer to do a professional job. Sadly, as virtually all of the attendees at the recent title deeds seminar confirmed, people had no idea that the property they were buying was mortgaged – because their lawyers did not advise them of the fact – i.e. they did not do a professional job.
Unless buyers are lucky enough to find an ‘honest’ lawyer, they remain completely oblivious of the fact that a developer has mortgaged ‘their’ property – until they come to sell it – or the bank comes knocking on the door for its money.
According to Article 16 of the Code of Conduct Regulations issued by the Cyprus Bar Association, “Subject to the rules of law and the code of conduct, advocates are obliged to always defend their client’s interests in the best manner possible, even with regard to their own personal interests, those of their colleagues or the profession in general.”
If lawyers (and the Cyprus Bar Association) took their responsibilities seriously, the image of Cyprus would remain untarnished and its property industry wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in today.
Those wishing to find out whether their property is burdened by a mortgage or any other encumbrances should visit their local District Land Office and complete a Form N.50. It will take 20-30 days for the Land Registry staff to provide the information.
Nigel Howarth
Erimi, Limassol
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009
A 40-year-old man, who allegedly obtained around €2m from his Russian business partner by falsely offering to provide him with acres of land, has been remanded for eight days in police custody.
Financial Crime Unit investigator Christakis Christodoulou said in court that the suspect persuaded his partner to invest in land in Limassol with the prospect of turning it into a tourist village.
He then, over the period of a year, transferred funds out of their joint account into his personal accounts and provided the victim with false title deeds.
Christodoulou added that the land in question is jointly owned by 50 people and a private company and was never on the property market, during the time the suspect claimed he had bought it.
A RECENT mini-poll conducted by the online Cyprus Property Magazine revealed that nearly 80% of those who voted believe that property prices will continue to fall during 2009. While only 1 in 10 believe they will increase, more than 50% believe they will decrease by more than 10%.
Reflecting the stagnant property market, Capital Gains Tax receipts plummeted 82% in the first four months of the year to €21.3 million compared to last years figure of €116.2. Stamp Duty and Immovable Property Tax receipts also fell.
For the latest poll “Are you planning to buy property in Cyprus this year?” go to the Cyprus Property Magazine and check out the ‘Have Your Say’ poll in the right hand column.
Since its launch in December last year, nearly 2,000 people have signed an on-line petition on the UK Number 10 website calling on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to put pressure on the Cyprus Government to protect their property rights.
In an interview with the Sunday Mail, British businessman Leslie Glassock who submitted the petition said that he was furious that he’s still waiting for the Title Deeds to a property he bought in Limassol in 2003.
The petition will remain on-line until Thursday 4th June.
The petition reads: “We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to exert pressure on the Government of Cyprus to protect property rights in Cyprus in compliance with Article 17 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.”
Recent months have seen the pressure on Cyprus to resolve the Title Deeds-cum-fraud mess mounting.
Buyers are worried that the global credit crunch will affect developers in Cyprus. Many property developers hold onto title deeds of buyers’ homes using the land on which they are building as collateral to raise mortgages. If a developer collapses, the banks have legal right of foreclosure.
There are around 100,000 properties waiting for their Title Deeds, some 30,000 have been bought by non-Cypriots. Many buyers in this situation face the very real threat of losing their homes if their developer collapses.
