Nicosia sees drop in house prices as other areas rise

The general house price index in Cyprus, which includes both houses and apartments, continued its upward trajectory on an annual basis during the first quarter of 2025, according to data published by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC).

The increase came amid a slowdown in apartment price growth and a faster pace of increase in house prices.

According to the CBC, the general house price index recorded a quarterly rise of 1.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, compared with an increase of 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024.

This reflected quarterly increases of 1.8 per cent in house prices and 1.4 per cent in apartment prices.

On an annual basis, housing prices rose by 4.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, compared with 4.5 per cent in the previous quarter.

Apartment prices showed a decelerating year-on-year increase of 3.5 per cent, while house prices posted an accelerating rise of 5.6 per cent in the same period.

For the first time since 2008, the annual growth rate of apartment prices was lower than that of house prices.

In terms of demand, the CBC cited data from the department of lands and surveys showing an annual increase in the total number of sales documents submitted during the first quarter of 2025.

This rise was recorded among both domestic and foreign buyers.

In addition, all districts saw an annual increase in the number of property sales documents.

“The increase in the number of sales documents from foreign buyers is consistent with the acceleration in the quarterly increases recorded in both the house price index and the apartment price index during the first quarter of 2025,” the CBC said.

Regarding supply, the number of building permits, used as a leading indicator of construction activity, recorded a modest rise in 2024 compared to 2023.

This trend was also reflected in the European Commission’s economic sentiment surveys as of March 2025, which showed that the construction activity dispersion index for the previous three months remained in positive territory for the sixth consecutive quarter.

In terms of regional annual price changes, only Limassol experienced an acceleration in overall house price growth, reaching 5.7 per cent.

In contrast, Larnaca, Paphos and Famagusta all recorded slower annual increases of 5.9 per cent, 12.9 per cent and 7.3 per cent respectively, with the most significant slowdown observed in Famagusta.

Nicosia’s overall house price growth remained steady at 0.7 per cent on an annual basis.

More specifically, house prices in Limassol showed a marked annual acceleration to 9.1 per cent from 5.1 per cent.

Furthermore, Famagusta also recorded continued strong growth of around 8 per cent.

However, house price growth slowed in Paphos to 12.7 per cent, and to a lesser extent in Larnaca, where it fell to 6 per cent.

What is more, Nicosia registered a decline in house prices, with a negative annual rate of 1.2 per cent.

On an annual basis, apartment prices showed a decelerating increase in Limassol, Larnaca and Famagusta, at 2.6 per cent, 7.1 per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively.

In Nicosia and Paphos, apartment prices recorded annual increases of 3.1 per cent and 13.8 per cent respectively.