The Cyprus market added 14% more deals and accelerated construction: what the 2026 figures show

July became the first month of the year when the number of sale contracts in Cyprus exceeded two thousand: 2,040 deals, roughly 11% more than a year earlier. Across seven months the count reached 12,047 against 10,561 in the same period of 2025 — growth of 14.1%. Completed transfers of ownership came to €2.70 billion. Meanwhile something equally significant is happening at the other end of the market: between January and April the authorities approved the construction of 7,131 new homes, 65% more than a year earlier. Demand and future supply are accelerating at the same time. Here are the figures in order.

It is worth separating two indicators that often get confused. A sale contract is a recorded deal: buyer and seller have agreed everything and filed the paperwork. A transfer of ownership is the moment the title actually passes to the new owner at the Department of Lands and Surveys. A long stretch of time can separate the two, so the statistics differ and both deserve attention.

By contracts the picture is this: 12,047 over seven months, up 14.1% year on year, which amounts to almost fifteen hundred additional deals. By transfers: 12,857 properties changed hands across 11,522 operations, with a declared value of €2.70 billion. June was the strongest month at €541 million, July delivered €468 million.

One more detail that says a lot about the state of the market: banks issued €353.6 million in new housing loans during the first quarter, 24.5% more than a year earlier. Demand, in other words, is supported not only by buyers' own funds but by growing lending as well.

The Cyprus market is unevenly distributed, and the gap between the number of deals and their value shows this better than any description.

Limassol accounts for a third of all deals in the country but 40% of all the money — meaning properties there are on average markedly more expensive. Larnaca works the other way round: plenty of deals, yet a combined value almost three times below Limassol's. Nicosia, the capital and business centre, grows slowest of all at 5.4% against nearly 20% along the coast.

July makes the gap even clearer: Limassol produced 695 contracts against 579 a year earlier, Larnaca 436, Nicosia 423 compared with 422 last July, and Paphos 395 with growth of 15.5%. The only district in negative territory was Famagusta, with 91 contracts and a 3.2% decline.

Here sits the most telling figure in the whole set. Over seven months purchases by foreign buyers rose 21.1%, while purchases by local buyers rose 9.3%. Foreigners placed 4,980 properties under contract, and 66.1% of those went to buyers from outside the European Union. In Paphos foreign buyers acquired 1,667 properties — more than in any other district.

Among completed transfers, foreign buyers accounted for 20.9% nationally, but the spread is enormous: 41.7% in Paphos against just 9.0% in Nicosia.

Foreign demand has stopped being an add-on to the local market and has become a pricing factor in its own right in the coastal districts, analysts covering the Cyprus property market note.

For a buyer this translates into a practical conclusion. In Paphos almost every second property goes to a foreigner — which means competing for good options against other newcomers, but also having someone to sell to later. In Nicosia the market is held by local residents: prices move more calmly, but a resale buyer will have to be found among Cypriots, and they need capital-city property to live in rather than for a home by the sea.

Over the year flats in Cyprus rose 10.8% in value, houses 3.0%. The gap has a simple explanation: flats are bought to live in, to let and as a relatively affordable way into the market, while houses serve a narrower circle of buyers.

Half-year statistics on new-build sales give a more detailed picture. In total 3,594 deals worth €1.149 billion, with an average price of €319,618 per transaction against a median of €232,500. The distance between average and median is exactly the influence of the expensive segment: a handful of large deals pull the average up, while half the market lives below €232,000.

Across districts the medians for new builds differ by more than double: Nicosia €185,000, Larnaca €190,000, Famagusta €225,000, Limassol €302,910, Paphos €360,000. And the key figure for anyone who considers Cyprus an expensive destination: 83% of all new-build deals closed below €400,000.

Now to what will define the market in two or three years. Between January and April 2026 Cyprus issued 2,915 building permits — 35.1% more than a year earlier. Their combined value rose 46.1% to €1.67 billion, and the authorised floor area rose 45.5% to 1.35 million square metres.

The headline figure, though, is the number of future dwellings: 7,131 against 4,321 a year earlier, growth of 65%. And it is apartment construction that is expanding.

Set that against current demand: 12,047 contracts over seven months across the whole country, against 7,131 approved homes in just four months. If the pace holds, supply in the apartment segment will grow faster than demand, and in two or three years the market will look different from today.

A building permit is not a completed home: some projects never reach construction, others slip by years. But the direction is already visible, and in flats it is the most pronounced, an expert on the island's property market says.

The caveat here is essential. A permit records an intention rather than a finished property, and the gap between the two has traditionally been wide in Cyprus. Even so, for a buyer entering the market to let or to resell, this indicator matters more than current prices.

The Cypriot economy grew 3.3% year on year in the second quarter — three times faster than the eurozone at 1.0% and well ahead of the EU as a whole (1.2%) and the United States (2.1%). Among the drivers of growth the statistical service names trade, information technology, finance and construction.

Tourist traffic is recovering unevenly. In July the island's airports handled 1.63 million passengers, narrowing the gap with last year to 1%, though the shortfall across seven months stands at 3.7%. At the height of the season some 50,000 passengers and 325 flights pass through daily, with Larnaca taking 230 flights and 36,000 people and Paphos 95 flights and 14,000.

The structure of that flow explains the geography of rental demand directly: British travellers account for 23% of all passengers, Greeks 17% and Israelis 10%. Paphos is the only airport that grew over the year, by 7%. For an owner on the west of the island this means tenants arrive largely from Britain, and the season, the pound's exchange rate and the schedules of British carriers affect occupancy more than the national statistics do.

Is it true that property in Cyprus is getting more expensive?

Yes, but unevenly. Over the year flats gained 10.8% and houses 3.0%. The coastal districts are growing fastest: Limassol and Paphos each contributed around 20% growth in deals, while Nicosia managed 5.4%.

Where do foreign buyers purchase most often?

In Paphos: foreign buyers acquired 1,667 properties there over seven months, and their share of completed transfers reached 41.7%. Nicosia has the fewest foreign buyers at 9.0%.

Which is the better buy, a flat or a house?

It depends on the purpose. Flats appreciate faster and are more liquid on resale, and they make up 82.8% of new-build deals. Houses cost more — a median of €365,000 against €215,000 for flats — and grow more slowly, but fewer are built, which means less competition when it comes time to sell.

Will Cyprus end up with a housing surplus?

Permits have been issued for 65% more future dwellings, and the bulk of that growth sits in apartment blocks. This is no guarantee of a surplus: a share of those projects will never be built. But anyone buying to let on a three-to-five-year horizon should factor in rising competition.

When is the best time to enter the market?

There is no universal answer. For a purchase to live in the moment is neutral: prices are rising moderately and choice is wide. For an investment aimed at resale, the specific district and segment matter more than the calendar — future supply is heavier in flats and lighter in houses.