Apartments compensate for the overall decline in construction in the Cyprus housing market

The construction industry in Cyprus reported a 16.5% increase in the total value of new buildings on the market in the first half of 2023. The total area of land under development also went up by 3%, according to the Cyprus Statistics Agency (Cystat).

While the total value of new construction projects and the amount of land under development increased in the first half of the year, the number of building permits for the period fell by 7.4% year-on-year. This is a decrease from 3,898 permits in the first half of 2022 to 3,608 permits for the same period in 2023.

New construction rates in different market segments are uneven, e.g. the construction of private houses is decreasing. However, the overall decline is compensated by an increase in the construction of residential complexes (apartments). The number of off-plan apartments grew by 17.6% over the year.

Construction of private houses decreased by 9.4%, duplexes by 20.9%, and mixed-use properties by 45.2%. At the same time, the scale of infrastructure construction is growing. For example, the rate of road construction increased by 30.1%. The growth in creating new land for future construction increased by 3.7%.

Cystat points out that in June, which marks the end of the first half of the year, the number of new construction permits issued by municipal and provincial authorities reached 610 units. In comparison, 626 permits were issued in June 2022.  The total value of permits issued during the month reached 251.1 million euros this year, an increase of 30 million euros since June 2022.