More and more overseas buyers are continuing to buy property in Cyprus, new figures show.
The latest data published by the island’s Department of Lands and Surveys shows that 302 property sale contracts were deposited by non-Cypriots during August 2018. Of those 85 were deposited by EU citizens and the remaining 217 by non-EU citizens.
During the first nine months of this year, a total of 3,186 sales contracts were deposited by overseas buyers, with 1,004 deposited by EU nationals and 2,182 by non-EU nationals. In the whole of 2017, only 2,406 overseas buyers bought a property in Cyprus.
One of the main appeals for non-EU investors to purchase a property in Cyprus is an offer which allows those who spend more than 300,000 euros the possibility of obtaining Cypriot residency. However, the so-called ‘Golden Visa’ scheme – which is also used in other EU countries including Portugal and Greece – is currently under review by authorities, as critics deem it as a back-door to receiving EU citizenship.
The figures show that Limassol is the most popular place for non-EU citizens, while Paphos is favoured by the majority of EU citizens.
So far this year, foreign buyers have accounted for nearly half of all property sales in Cyprus (47.5 per cent). This is the largest proportion since 2008, when 49.3 per cent of all sales went to overseas investors. In 2000, only 3.6 per cent of all sales were made by n0n-Cypriots/
Overall, property sales in Cyprus have now been rising month-on-month for 17 consecutive months. Article published 18th October 2018