The Cyprus Real Estate Agents Registration Council on Friday voiced strong opposition to key provisions of three draft bills currently being debated in parliament.

In its statement, the council warned that the proposals “could create a bureaucratic bottleneck in the property market and overburden already understaffed building authorities”.

While the council acknowledged the need for better management of jointly owned buildings, it stressed that “certain provisions risk having devastating consequences“.

A central point of disagreement is the proposal that a certificate from the management committee confirming the settlement of communal expenses should be required both for the filing of a sales contract and for the final transfer of a property.

“Such a requirement will obstruct thousands of property transactions, cause endless delays, and open the door to cases of owners being blackmailed by arbitrary or mismanaged committees,” said the council’s president Marinos Kineyirou.

Cyprus recorded the third largest increase in the European Union for short-term rental accommodation in the second quarter of 2025, with a rise of 29 per cent compared with the same period of 2024, according to figures published by Eurostat.

This has placed Cyprus behind only Malta, which registered the steepest increase of 36 per cent, and Slovakia, which grew by 29.1 per cent.

The Eurostat figures showed that between April and June 2025, guests spent a total of 245.9 million nights in EU accommodation booked via the online platforms Airbnb, Booking and Expedia.

This represented an increase of 17.8 per cent compared with the same quarter of 2024 and 36.8 per cent compared with the second quarter of 2023.

In Cyprus, the second quarter results marked a sharp acceleration from the first quarter of 2025, when the country posted an increase of 8.4 per cent.

Cyprus recorded an unemployment rate of 5.1 per cent in August 2025, higher than the 5 per cent rate seen in July and up from 4.6 per cent in August 2024, according to figures published by Eurostat.

The number of unemployed persons in Cyprus reached 27,000 in August, compared with 25,000 in June and 24,000 in May.

Youth unemployment in Cyprus remained a concern, with the rate at 14.7 per cent in both May and June of this year, above the 11.2 per cent seen in August 2024.

Moreover, Eurostat data showed that 4,000 young people under 25 were unemployed in the country in June 2025.

In terms of gender, male unemployment in Cyprus stood at 4.7 per cent in August 2025, while female unemployment was higher at 5.5 per cent.

The Enterprise Europe Network Cyprus, whose actions on the island are coordinated by the local chamber of commerce (Keve), has informed Cypriot businesses about an important opportunity to contribute to shaping future European Union policies on digitalisation.

The announcement mentioned that the European Commission has launched the SME Panel Digital Omnibus Survey 2025, which aims to gather insights from small and medium-sized enterprises across Europe.

“Your input will help the commission better understand the digital challenges and opportunities faced by businesses like yours,” the announcement stated.

The announcement, shared by Christina Panayides, Keve officer at the Enterprise Europe Network Cyprus, urged businesses to participate in the survey.

The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) on Friday alerted the public to a forged letter that was discovered bearing the bank’s insignia and logos and demanding money from a citizen.

The CBC confirmed that the letter did not originate from the central bank and said the matter has already been reported to the competent authorities for investigation.

What is more, the bank stressed that it never asks individual citizens for money.

“The Central Bank of Cyprus never requests immediate payment of money from individual citizens,” it said.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) on Friday announced that it will organise presentations on environmental, social and governance (ESG) assessment tools, as part of its ongoing strategy to enhance sustainable development and corporate governance.

The initiative, according to the exchange, is set up to aid publicly traded companies in adopting ESG standards within their business practices.

“The CSE is exploring ways to support its listed companies in their course towards incorporating ESG criteria into their activities,” the exchange said.

Moreover, the CSE confirmed that it has already accepted a cooperation proposal from a company active in sustainability assessment and certification.

House prices in Cyprus recorded a modest year-on-year increase of 1 per cent during the second quarter of 2025, according to preliminary estimates published by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

In addition, the service on Friday reported that the House Price Index (HPI) for the second quarter stood at 113.99 units.

Compared with the first quarter of 2025, the HPI rose by 0.2 per cent, while compared with the same period of 2024, the index showed an annual increase of 1 per cent.

Cystat explained that the HPI is a quarterly index that measures changes in the average prices of residential dwellings across the country.

Delivery platforms, such as Wolt, are seen as very important by 74 per cent of Cypriot partner businesses, according to the company’s 2025 local commerce survey.

The research showed that more than half of Wolt’s business partners have recorded higher sales, with 55 per cent stating the platform supported the digitalisation of their business.

At the same time, six in ten consumers said they use Wolt specifically to support local shops.

Small and family-run businesses in Cyprus reported that through their cooperation with Wolt they managed to significantly increase sales, expand their customer base and boost customer satisfaction levels.

These findings were drawn from the study conducted by Copenhagen Economics, a leading European economic analysis and consulting firm, which surveyed 23 markets where Wolt operates.

In Cyprus, the survey included more than 120 businesses and 130 consumers.

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) on Friday informed regulated entities that the Unit for Combating Money Laundering (Mokas) has published its strategic analysis report for 2023–2024, providing key insights into suspicious transactions and money laundering risks.

CySEC explained that the report was prepared by Mokas following a thematic analysis of suspicious transaction reports (STRs) submitted to the unit during 2023 and 2024.

The regulator said that the report offers regulated entities information on the latest trends and methods of money laundering and terrorism financing as they emerge from the STRs.

According to CySEC, the findings also provide valuable intelligence for categorising threats, prioritising the analysis of reports in a risk-based approach, and ensuring more effective allocation of resources.

Inflation in Cyprus continued to decline on an annual basis for the fifth consecutive month in September, according to figures released this week by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

According to Cystat’s latest report, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded an annual drop of 0.7 per cent.

The CPI stood at 117.71 units compared with 117.04 in August, marking a monthly increase of 0.67 units or 0.6 per cent.

On an annual basis, the largest positive change among the economic categories was recorded in services, which rose by 3.1 per cent.

The most notable negative changes were seen in electricity, which fell by 10.9 per cent, in agricultural products, which dropped by 5.0 per cent, and in petroleum products, which declined by 2.7 per cent.

The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) on Friday informed the public that all banks will be closed on Tuesday, October 28, in observance of Ochi (No) Day.

The announcement serves as a reminder for customers to plan their banking activities ahead of the holiday.

Cyprus Cement Public Company Ltd on Friday announced that its board of directors will convene on October 14, in order to discuss a possible declaration of an interim dividend from the profits of the year 2025 to the company’s shareholders.

No further details regarding the potential dividend amount or payment date were provided by the company.

The announcement was made on the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE), where the company trades under the exchange’s regulated market.

Cyprus-headquartered ASBISc Enterprises Plc, commonly referred to as Asbis, has announced the acquisition of CPT Praha spol. s r.o., a Czech distributor specialising in premium audio products.

The board of directors of Asbis confirmed that the agreement was signed through its subsidiary, ASBIS CZ spol. s r.o., which acquired 100 per cent of the share capital in CPT Praha.

The company disclosed that the purchase price was set at 600,000 US dollars, covering the value of the purchased inventories.

The industrial turnover index in Cyprus climbed to 159.9 units in July 2025, marking an increase of 3.5 per cent compared with July 2024, according to figures released on Friday by the state statistical service (Cystat).

For the period from January to July 2025, the index recorded a rise of 4.9 per cent compared with the same period in 2024.

In the manufacturing sector, the index reached 156.1 units in July 2025, posting a sharp annual increase of 9.1 per cent compared with July 2024.

Cystat also reported increases in water supply and materials recovery, which rose by 6.5 per cent, and in mining and quarrying, which rose by 6.1 per cent.

Cyprus retail trade recorded strong growth in August 2025, driven by higher turnover and sales volume, according a report released this week by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

The Turnover Value Index of retail trade, excluding motor vehicles, rose by 4.9 per cent compared with the same month last year.

For the same period, the Turnover Volume Index increased by 8.4 per cent, reflecting higher sales in physical terms, the service added.

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) this week issued new guidance on annual fees under the Digital Operational Resilience Act for the financial sector, known as DORA.

The announcement applies to a wide range of financial entities, including investment firms, crypto-asset service providers authorised by CySEC, issuers of asset-referenced tokens, central securities depositories, central counterparties, trading venues, alternative investment fund managers, management companies, and crowdfunding service providers.

CySEC said that following the publication of Directive DIR73-2009-07 and Policy Statement PS-03-2025 regarding DORA fees, financial entities are required to complete a form for self-categorisation and calculation of the first annual ICT fee for 2025.

Cyprus’ aquaculture sector broke records in 2024 with 9,054 tonnes of products worth €53 million, the fisheries department said on Friday.

Aquaculture is a key pillar of the blue economy and an integral part of the national fishing sector, the department said.

Thus, aquaculture constitutes “a very important activity of the broader export-oriented primary production sector” and contributes “significantly to ensuring national food security”.

Aquaculture products constitute over 85 per cent, both in quantity and value, of the total national production of fishery products and are the third most important export product in value from the broader Cypriot agricultural sector of primary production, with annual exports amounting to over €40 million, the department said.