In fact, 2019 closed with a 12% increase in sales documents, exceeding 10,300 in number and marking the industry’s best performance since 2008. The districts of Nicosia and Larnaca were steadily on the rise, while Limassol’s  momentum was maintained.

New stricter criteria imposed on the citizenship by investment scheme last May were expected to affect luxury real estate transactions.

Specifically, data by the Department of Land and Surveys shows the number of sales documents rising to 10,366 in 2019, compared to 9,242 in 2018 which had marked a 6% increase compared to 2017.

Even though 2019 marked the highest number of sales documents since 2008, it is nonetheless 51.2% lower than in 2007 during which sales documents exceeded 21,000.

Nicosia’s real estate market is steadily on the rise, marking the highest increase in sales, followed by Paphos and Larnaca with 17%. In Limassol, sales increased by 3% and in Famagusta district by 2%.

However, once again, the highest number of sales documents were recorded in Limassol (3,517), followed by Paphos (2,630) and Nicosia (1,998). Lower sales documents were recorded in Larnaca (1,568) and Famagusta (653).

For Limassol, 2018 closed at an 8% growth rate but the big boom was recorded in 2017 which ended with a 27% increase in submitted sales documents.

Although data on foreign buyers for December 2019 has not been released, May remains a landmark month for the real estate market. In May, 1,423 sales documents were submitted marking the year’s highest in number.

Source: In-Cyprus