The real estate market showed signs of recovery in 2021, approaching in many cases the data of 2019. In fact, real estate transfers until November 2021, were more in all provinces compared to the corresponding period of 2019.
“2021 was a year of correcting the anomalies caused by the pandemic in the market in 2020. A significant number of operations were postponed due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. At the same time, the general upward trend recorded in mortgages, proves that the state interest rate subsidy plan worked positively for the market “, explains Dr. George Mountis, Managing Partner of Delfi Partners & Company.
“For 2022, the role of the pandemic and any new mutations such as Omicron will be crucial for both the real estate sector and the economy in general. We estimate that the trend for the acquisition of used real estate will continue to be increasing as the number of real estate available in the market by banking institutions and asset management companies “.
According to the new research, “Real Estate Dynamics in Cyprus” by Delfi Analytics, real estate transfers in the first eleven months of 2021 were increased by 3.4% compared to the corresponding period of 2019. At the same time, sales documents for the same period were reduced by 4.2% and the number of mortgages by 4.4%. The value of mortgages increased by 82.2%, which is largely explained by the large increase recorded this year in the province of Limassol, which is not associated with a corresponding increase in the number of mortgages, so it may result from a small number high value mortgages.
According to a Delfi Analytics survey, the data suggest an increase in demand for used real estate, with 14,228 transfers recorded as of November. Increased by 3.4% compared to 2019 and 26.5% compared to 2020. In contrast, sales documents until November were reduced by 4.2% compared to 2019.
Nicosia
More specifically, with regard to the province of Nicosia, most comparative indicators moved positively in relation to the period in question. Both transfers (27%) and sales documents (38%) were particularly high compared to the corresponding period of 2019. The number of mortgages was also increased while the value of mortgages compared to the corresponding period of 2019 was reduced. by 15%.
Limassol
In the province of Limassol, again most of the data are positive compared to 2020 and 2019. Transfers were increased compared to the respective periods of 2019 (2%) and 2020 (30%). In terms of sales documents, there was an increase of 28% compared to 2020, however, there was still a distance of 11% from the data of 2019. In Limassol, the number of mortgages was slightly increased and the value of mortgages increased dramatically which approached 300%. Indication which shows that a small number of mortgages were related to a loan / loans of a very large amount. Indicatively, while in 2019 and 2020 the mortgages amounted to approximately € 900 million, this year, they jumped to € 3.2 billion.
Paphos
In 2021, things did not go very smoothly for the province of Paphos. Most benchmarks were positive compared to 2020 but quite negative compared to 2019. Specifically, for the period under review, transfers were reduced by 20%, sales documents by 35% and the number of mortgages by 15% compared to the pre-pandemic year.
Larnaca
The picture is mixed in the province of Larnaca, where transfers were reduced by 8% compared to January-November 2019 while sales documents were increased by 5%. The number of mortgages decreased by 11% while their value increased by 0.1%.
Famagusta
Finally, the real estate market in the province of Famagusta moved mainly positively, as both transfers (+ 12%) and sales documents (+ 4%) and the number of mortgages (+ 4%) were higher than in 2019.
The course of the pandemic is a determining factor
For more analysis and data on the Cypriot and Greek real estate market, visit the specialized page of Delfi Analytics.
