zygiman

The idea of purchasing a home anywhere, will probably be the most expensive decision in your lifetime. There are many problems with purchasing property in Cyprus, well documented in this forum. I for one, would certainly walk away from any property being offered to me without a title deed, no matter how cheap it is, there are so many properties on the market with title deeds, why get involved in potential future problems, where you may lose your home and have paid in full for your home.
Registered Estate Agents, must follow a law in Cyprus http://www.rearboard.com.cy/Binder12.pdf This law is in the process of changing, but it is still law.
If i were to purchase a property in Cyprus, i would check the registration number of the Estate Agent, and use an independent lawyer before purchasing a property in Cyprus, just my opinion on property purchase in Cyprus, with advice from my Cyprus lawyer.

Veronica-K

What you have failed to say Zygiman is that it is impossible for anyone other a Cypriot to be a registered agent as it is a closed shop. This is against the EU laws as it unfairly disadvantages other EU citizens and that is why the law is changing.
Non Cypriots operate as marketing companies but they are not allowed by law to take money from clients. There are one or two who do but these companies seem to get away with it as they are big companies who grease the right palms.
A marketing company has to take clients to a lawyer where all financial and legal transactions are done.

The EU is forcing Cyprus to change its attitude and then companies who have been trading without any problems and keeping within the law will find it much easier to become registered agents.


What I will caution people very strongly about is, some 'agents' will try to rush you to their offices if you say you like a property to pay a deposit and sign a contract.
Under no circumstances should you allow them to bully you into doing this.
There are couple of well known companies who do this although it is illegal for them to handle money or to do contracts. I have heard of several cases where a sale has fallen through because the buyer couldn’t get a mortgage or some other reason that was no fault of the buyer and these agents have kept their deposit.
I repeat, it is illegal for non registered agents to do contracts or to handle money.
You should insist on doing everything through a lawyer, that way you are protected and if the sale falls through and it is not your fault you will get your deposit back.

Veronica

zygiman

In my opinion, it is always good advice to arrange finance before viewing properties, as not doing so, can lead to heartbreak when you have found a house, and then cannot get finance, probably because of income multiples, or deposit requirements. There is also the possibility of not getting a mortgage on a house because of faults with the property, and possibile title deed issues.

Veronica-K

It goes without saying that finance should be in place before viewing properties. People should at the very least visit some banks to see how much they can borrow.
The trouble is banks will not give a definitive answer without knowing which property you want to buy. The big problem which has recently reared its head is that banks are valuing properties down lately.
There seems to be no rhyme or reason for it as they appear to automatically value properties 20% less than the asking price even when a property is already below market value or has been heavily reduced in price.This means that buyers are suddenly finding that they need to raise an extra 20% which they had not counted on. As a result sales are collapsing.
This has only started happening recently and means that even more than before, buyers who have cash and don't need to borrow are the ones who are in the strongest position.

zygiman

Land Registry figures published today show a 21% drop in contracts of sale deposited in Land Registries in Cyprus for March 2011 compared to March 2010.
Larnaca - 52%, Famagusta - 46%, Paphos - 24%, Nicosia - 10% and Limassol - 8%.
Property sales to foreigners increased in Nicosia + 15%, Larnaca + 13%, Limassol + 11%, , but fell in Paphos - 25% and in Famagusta - 20%
This is a bonus for cash buyers too in certain areas.

Veronica-K

Its hardly any wonder that sales have fallen when the banks are being so harsh.
I know of several sales which scuppered by the banks this year already and I am sure there will be many more that I havn't heard about.
It certainly isnt a good time for anyone to be starting out in this industry.

zygiman

Location seems to be playing a part in the sales drop too, judging by the figures.

Veronica-K

As Nicosia and Limassol are the main government and business centres they will always be the areas where property sales are more stable and less likely to be affected by economic vagueries.
Paphos and Larnaca areas rely more on holiday trade and retirement so when there is an economic downturn they are naturally more affected.
The general consensus of opinion is that his year will be bad for property sales but that things will begin to improve again next year.
Personally I think it will take longer for things to pick up but in the meantime while things remain at a low, those who do buy will be in a good position to get a bargain.

zygiman

Property sales will take a long time to recover due to the oversupply too.

Veronica-K

Prices may take time to recover due to over supply but actual sales are not going to be affected. It just means there are more properties available and of course by the same token it means buyers can make low offers as vendors are fighting for sales.

zygiman

With the new builds still continuing, large oversupply and financing problems, this does not paint a pretty picture.
Personally i would still wait for the prices to fall even more.

Veronica-K

There are relatively few new builds these days, mostly complexes which were started before the crash being completed and individual custom builds.
Very few of the larger developers are starting any new projects.

zygiman

In Limassol near my apartment, there is a huge double tower apartment block being built on the coast road, plus another large complex behind this, plus the new Limassol Marina, with large property development included, and i just heard that a new Marina has just been approved in Larnaca with another large property complex included.
It will be interesting to see who buys all these new homes, probably wealthy people, as they are going to be quite luxurious.

Veronica-K

Limassol does seem to be the exception with new builds going up all over the place. In Paphos the developers have taken stock and are finishing started projects but not starting anything new.
In some cases they have even halted some projects to concentrate on finishing those that are furthest advanced and then moving on to finishing another once that is done. This way they are cutting their costs by getting rid of a lot of their workforce. This does mean that sometimes buyers are moved from one project to another as happened with a project by one of the big developers in Tala who moved all the buyers to another project in the Universal area. I dont suppose the buyers were very happy but at least it meant they had something to show for their money without having having to wait for years. The universal project is almost complete and I have to say that although I really do not like the developer their projects do always look very attractive compared to some.

zygiman

Yes, Limassol being a business centre and having a lot of Russians living there, many quite wealthy, seems to be bucking the trend.