Cyprus realty woos foreign investors

Foreign property buyers in Cyprus last month deposited 594 contracts of sale at Land Registry offices across the island; they accounted for 54% of all sales; the first time since 2007 that the number of foreign sales has exceeded domestic sales.

Foreign nationals from EU member-states deposited 150 sales contracts in January; a fall of 32% compared to the 221 contracts deposited in January 2022.

Contracts deposited by foreigners from non-EU countries (third-country nationals) in January rose a startling 148%, reaching 444 compared to 179 in January 2022.

Cypriot citizens deposited a total of 497 contracts in January compared to 455 in January 2022; an increase of 9% and the highest since January 2012.

However, these figures include an unreported number of “non-sale” agreements such as loan restructurings, recoveries and debt-to-asset swaps agreed between financial institutions and defaulting borrowers in efforts by the banks to reduce their nonperforming loan portfolios.

The freeze that protected defaulted borrowers and businesses from repossession ended on January 31.