Cyprus-Forum.com

[TonyC]

Those who buy today at the height of the bubble because they cannot wait will regret it in a few years when prices plummet.

Investors presumably have (should have) more sense. The rest of us are looking for our place in the sun now, because we're at that stage in our lives.
The danger with waiting until the price is better is of course that you could wait forever, always hoping for an even lower price, and then you'll never get round to fulfilling your holiday home dream.
Remember, a lot of these people are pensioners, a few years can mean a lot.

[mikesjn]

It is not so long ago (within the last 7 years) when someone said to me "Don't buy that it will drop lower", that was £48k for a 4 bed house, we sold it 2 years ago for just under £200k, bought another house for £137k (no mortgage) and a 2 bed apartment in Cyrus, the £137k house is worth marginally under £200k again. Yes, I agree that these sort of times are over for the moment, but here in the UK property is shifting again, the last month or 2 it is all sold signs and estate agent phonecalls again. Prices going up, unlikely. Going down in the UK or Cyprus, who knows. I agree Cyprus looks wobbly compared to the UK but there are always good buys (and bad buys!!), look at some of the golfing apartments at CY£195k, when down the road one with an extra bedroom is under half price. Perhaps it would be better to look along the lines of sectors suffering. Personally I try to get taty resales as most people don't like these.

[Svetlana]

The Golfing apartments at Aphrodite Hills are going for £200,000+; I say 'going' but the reality is that these properties are selling VERY slowly. It is one of the areas that I would not invest in, here.

Lana

[simonwjones]

£200k for an apartment is crazy!!! Well crazy!!

Can't see these being snapped up too quickly. I know just down the road you can pick up a one bed apt for £63k.

[Niki]

The Golfing apartments at Aphrodite Hills are going for £200,000+; I say 'going' but the reality is that these properties are selling VERY slowly. It is one of the areas that I would not invest in, here.

Lana

Lana

As I know this is your business, where would you consider investing? I am keen on the villages north of Limassol as Limassol seems very expensive probably because of the tourist trap areas.

Also - with regards to not buying for a few years as prices will go down - should we waste a lot of money renting instead while waiting for the downturn?

Niki

[Svetlana]

Hi Niki

You ask about investing, I assume you are looking for equity growth/rental as opposed to a home for yourself? Firstly, you must be totally emotionally detached from the purchase; if you do not even like it, it does not matter providing the invetsment potential is there.

Do as much research as you can about various areas, spend time on the net, talk to Estate Agents and developers, decide on your budget and stick to it. Do you want equity gropwth or do you want rental income, or both, this will affect your purchasing decision. If you intend to rent out will it be short term lets or long term lets, this may well also affect which areas you should be looking at.

There is a lot of ordinary property about, avoid it, look for something special or look for something offering value for money. If something is cheap, ask yourself why it is cheap.

It is more difficult to be specific about areas, because within Cyprus I only know the west. If you are looking to address the holiday market the Paphos location is probably best; for residential letting somewhere within easy commuting distance of Nicosia/Limassol, would be better.

Larnaca, really puzzles me, I do not see the attraction but Orikini seems to be growing rapidly; however, as I do not know the region it is unfair for me to critisise it.

Sorry, not a definitive answer but I am not sure there is one.

Lana

[TonyC]

Those who buy today at the height of the bubble because they cannot wait will regret it in a few years when prices plummet.

Naah, you said yourself that property moves in cycles - they can just wait for prices to rise again after they've plummeted. They'll get their money back and probably make a little profit. They won't get rich quick, but neither will they end up begging in the streets.
This is assuming they are not 75 year old pensioners who will probably pop their clogs before the prices go up again...then it will be their children reaping the benefits.

[Niki]

Hi Lana

Thank you for your reply - I do appreciate your advice. I think that we are better to settle in Cyprus for a year or 2 to gauge the situation.

I cannot see a big downturn in property prices as there are very few places in the world that have the climate and 'British' influence that appeals to overseas buyers. You only have to do a quick web search on estate agents in alternative countries to see how prices compare - look at the bigger picture and what choices the overseas buyers have worldwide.

My Aunt lives in Tenerife - the Canary Island properties are double the price of Cyprus and they still sell because of the climate. My Aunt's 4 bedroom house with a pool and medium sized garden sold for nearly £1 million GBP!

Cyprus has so much more going for it, it's prettier, less touristy (Los Americos is lager lout heaven), nicer beaches, nicer people, more space (it is 4 times smaller than Cyprus with the same population) and overall a nicer place to live.

So - I can see the buyers being put off from buying in the Canary Islands (and other locations) and looking at Cyprus.

Niki

[TonyC]

I agree with Niki. Certainly Scandinavians are slowly but surely beginning to see the potential in Cyprus. Traditionally they've bought in Spain but the market there is definitely saturated, which together with some wierd laws that rip off the tourists, is making people look at other possibilities.
At the moment, Turkey is hot because it's dirt cheap. However, the iffy legal side and mafia involvement in real estate is scaring people off. Brazil is also coming up but most people find that too far, as is Thailand.

That reduces the possibilities to France, Italy Croatia, Greece etc. Both France and Italy price themselves out of the market, not only as far property prices are concerned, but also because they have high costs of living and high taxes etc. connected to holiday homes.

A friend of ours has a place on Procida, an island outside of Napoli. The location is perfect, as it should be as she paid the equivalent of CYP 120 000 for about 40 square meters of very old apartment. That's bad enough, but she says maintenance, taxes, electricity, water and everything else comes to about CYP 3600 a year. And try to get something done - everything takes months to arrange!
We also considered Tuscany, but the purchase price was 50% higher than Cyprus and included 8 weeks compulsory holiday rental (for which one pays hefty taxes)

So for ordinary people with ordinary economies, the choice comes down to maybe Croatia, Greece and Cyprus. Cyprus loses out on the cost of flights, but we looked at the total picture - infrastructure, society, demographics, crime rate etc. and Cyprus came out a clear winner. Let's face it, if you're a pensioner with heart trouble (I'm not, by the way), you don't want to have a heart attack on say, Serifos. I prefer a place with a decent hospital right down the road....

As far as prices are concerned, Cyprus is not expensive for a Scandinavian who's used to paying extremely high prices for property. And though prices may crash some time in the future, most holiday/retirement home buyers aren't planning on selling anyway so they'll only be losing on paper.

Wow, that's a lot of words for a "quick reply"

[Tuberider]

Naah, you said yourself that property moves in cycles - they can just wait for prices to rise again after they've plummeted. They'll get their money back and probably make a little profit. They won't get rich quick, but neither will they end up begging in the streets.

Forgive me for saying so, but quite a shallow argument.

If you load yourself up with debt to pay for an overpriced house, your quality of life suffers and you pay back more money in interest and principle. Money which could have been better used for travel, health, education and fun. Surely it's better to educate yourself a little and buy at the bottom of the cycle when prices are cheap ?

Cyprus has so much more going for it, it's prettier, less touristy (Los Americos is lager lout heaven), nicer beaches, nicer people, more space (it is 4 times smaller than Cyprus with the same population) and overall a nicer place to live.

While I love Cyprus this is a highly optimistic portrait of our little island ! Sure it has great points, but do not forget the rip-off merchants, very high cost of living, poor wages, mad driving, stifling beaurocracy, overdevelopment, rubbish strewn countryside, etc etc.

Also I think you are too generous with your portrayal of our beaches. The best beaches are in turkish occupied territory. Limassol and Larnaca have poor beaches, Paphos has one good beach and a few fair ones and Ayia Napa has several good beaches (but very overcrowded)