The international consulting firm PwC has published its yearly report on the Cyprus real estate market.
A new study says that, despite all the challenges, the island nation's housing sector has been stable and strong.
In 2024, the total value of property transactions in Cyprus was €5.71 billion, which is 1% more than in 2023. At the same time, the total number of transactions reached 23,900, which is 3% less than in the previous year. It is interesting to note that Nicosia had a 4% increase in the number of transactions, while this number decreased slightly in coastal cities. In 2024, Limassol was the leader in terms of transaction value, accounting for 44% of all sales. Nicosia and Paphos were the next two.
PwC says that the Cypriot market is still mostly driven by residential real estate. In 2024, the total value of transactions in this category was €3.8 billion, which is 67% of the total number of contracts.
The commercial real estate sector did really well in 2024, with a big increase in the amount of money spent. This made up for a drop in the value of other types of real estate.
In 2024, the number of homes bought by people from other countries in Cyprus went down by 10%.
At the same time, they were most interested in properties in regions such as Nicosia, Larnaca and the free areas of Famagusta. However, demand for residential and commercial properties in Paphos and Limassol fell.
The luxury housing sector (properties worth more than €1.5 million) saw a moderate recovery. A total of 188 deals were made in this area, worth a total of €500 million, which is 9% of the sector's total value. Limassol was top with 74% of transactions, while Paphos was second with 19%.
From January to November 2024, the number of new building permits in Cyprus went down by 2%, but their total value went up by 2%. This shows that people are working on bigger and more expensive projects.
Limassol and Nicosia were still the leaders in terms of the number of approved projects, confirming their key role in the country's construction activity. There was a lot of growth in the non-residential real estate sector, especially in retail and office space. At the same time, there are fewer tourists and people are spending less on entertainment. This could be because the market is saturated or people are investing in different things.
The Cyprus real estate market is still playing a big part in the country's move towards a new economic model. This is because the market is unstable, but full of opportunities. To deal with the problems we have now and the ones we might have in the future, we need to make changes and come up with new ideas that fit with the Vision 2035 plan, said Filippos Sossilos, the CEO of PwC Cyprus.