Cyprus Rental housing in a pandemic. Main points
By: Vladimir Kochenov
Tags: Real Estate, Property, Cyprus

The coronavirus pandemic is a key factor affecting the rental property market in the past year. No wonder that it has its influence: due to the circumstances there are undoubtedly less people who are ready to rent any type of accommodation. The flow of tourists has been significantly reduced, it is rather difficult to obtain an entry permit, and flights are not so frequent.

Nevertheless, there were several experts in the field who shed light on what has been happening. Here’s our overview of expert opinion on how coronavirus pandemic is affecting the rental property market.

Currently the prices for rented apartments and houses have decreased on average by 10–20%.

Nevertheless, experts believe that the situation in the rental estate market in 2021 will depend on how actively the residents of Cyprus are vaccinated, whether students return to universities and how soon foreign tourists appear on the island.

General analytics of price reductions and near future outlook

President of the Cyprus Real Estate Owners Association (KSIA) Yorgos Muskides believes that the gradual decline in prices began in July-August, that is, after the first wave of coronavirus.

“We are seeing a slight decrease in prices — from 10% to 20% depending on the region”, — said Kyriakos Talatinis, head of the Cyprus Association of Certified Appraisers and Real Estate Consultants, to Brief. — It was recorded in those areas where students would rent property.

This trend applies primarily to Nicosia, where students from Greece studied. After switching to distance learning, they returned home. According to real estate appraiser Polis Kurusidis, prices in Engomi and Aglange have fallen by 15–20%.

Mainly local students study at the Cyprus University of Technology and Limassol colleges, so the downward trend in demand for real estate near universities was not as pronounced as in the capital.

In Limassol, the minimum decline in rental prices was recorded, Polis Kurusidis believes. This happened due to the fact that many foreign companies worked during the introduction of restrictive measures, and the demand for rental housing remained higher than in other regions of the country.

Recently, large developers in Limassol have been busy building luxury housing intended for foreign investors, and the real estate market has formed a need for housing for the middle class, which developers cannot yet satisfy.

Limassol is also quite unique in terms of price dynamics for buying/selling property. According to Realtor CY there are several locations in the city that showed an increase in price. December turned out to be a “green” month for property, with increases in prices from 1.5% to 8.8% in the below 5 sub-locations.

Limassol average price for apartments is € 2,900 per square meters.

Germasogeia Neapolis Ypsonas Pyrgos Zakaki

Promising quick rebound of Cyprus economy

“In the near future, prices will either remain at this level or decline, but only slightly. Regardless of how quickly the pandemic ends, the fact that vaccination of the population has already begun in other countries, and in Cyprus it starts on December 27, has changed the psychology in the world, and panic and negative moods are fading away”, — Yorgos Muskidis is convinced.

Kyriakos Talatinis believes that several factors will influence the situation on the real estate rental market in early 2021. One of them is whether students will stay on distance learning. If they do not return to universities, then we will see further price reductions. If the epidemiological situation improves, then stabilization is expected on the real estate rental market (with some delay).