Investment Investment

Cyprus
How is it faring in 2009?
by Rachel Newcombe

T
he Republic of Cyprus has long been a
favorite with British property buyers and,
despite the global effects of the current
economic climate, still has plenty to offer
the discerning buyer.
With all that’s been going on in global econo-
mies over recent months, coupled with some
negative reports in the media, you could be for-
given for thinking that perhaps the time to invest
in property in Cyprus has passed. Whilst it may
be true that property markets in some countries
have passed their peak, Cyprus is holding up well
and is one of the locations where benefits do still
exist.
Cyprus was described last year, by The Royal
Chartered Institute of Surveyors (RICS) European
Housing Review 2008, as a “rare case of a coun-
try shrugging off the gloom.” A similar view was
echoed more recently by Charilaos Stavrakis, the
Cypriot Finance Minister, who commented that,
“In spite of the world going through an unprec-
edented economic crisis marked by high levels
of inflation and stagnation, the Cyprus economy
remains extremely satisfactory.”
With the economic situation around the world,
it’s almost inevitable that there will be some ef-
fects felt – but in some areas more than others.
The latest prime global market figures from
Knight Frank, as highlighted in their 2009 Wealth
Report, show that the residential price growth in
the Limassol area of Cyprus, was 3.9 percent in
the last quarter of 2008, down by a mere 0.5 per-
cent on the previous quarter. If you compare this
with other countries, such as a -10 percent change
in Mallorca, Spain, a -14.5 percent change in the
Dordogne area of France and a whopping -26.6
percent loss in Hong Kong, Cyprus seems to be
faring well.
“We believe the quality of the best prime loca-
tions will still continue to attract buyers and will
recover the quickest,” said Liam Bailey, head of
residential research at Knight Frank. In fact, the
Wealth Report highlighted that buyers are still
actively purchasing property, especially the high-
end variety, and don’t seem to have been put off
by the credit crunch.
“Once it was merely retired English moving to
the safe retreat of Cyprus, but now we are see-
ing more ex-pats from the Middle East, as well as
continued interest from the British. There is a lot
of interest from cash rich Russians and Scandina-
vians too. In terms of the price they’re willing to
pay for a home, it’s much higher up the market
scale,” commented Serge Cowan, managing di-
rector of the company Unique Living.

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