Cyprus-Forum.com

[bakala]

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Tonyc

Anyone buying in the TRNC has to realise the immediate future is very good for a buyer if you can wade through the potential minefield of corrupt builders lawyers etc,

The impending recognition of the TRNC and the guarantees of future ownership from the TRNC government for foreign buyers will create international confidence in the property market, The south’s propaganda is becoming transparently flimsy and support for recognition for the TRNC is growing to deafening proportions in the European political lobby, this support is being supplemented by support from the USA. The continued lobbying from Greece to maintain the TRNC isolation is now being seen as petty, counterproductive and vindictive,

The TRNC government is at the present time passing new laws and setting up inspection squads to clamp down on rogue builders, The whole north part of the island is running full tilt to catch up with investment in infrastructure to support a growing population of investors.

The TRNC is the new hot spot in the med for a holiday home or early retirement. I am moving to Cyprus in April and have decided to go to the north coast; The south has too many extremists disturbing the peace, and the difference in price for a villa cannot be ignored



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[Svetlana]

Hi Bakala

Unfortunately, implementation of the revised law is far complete (this from a TRNC source):

UBP And TKP Made A Recourse To The TRNC Constitutional Court Yesterday To Have The New Property Law Rescinded
Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer has said that the National Unity and the Communal Liberation Parties took a wrong step by taking the new “Law on Property Compensation, Exchange and Reinstatement” to the TRNC Constitutional Court.
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The Prime Minister accused the two parties of trying to achieve political gains with the Court challenge.

Stressing the Constitutional Court’s independence, Mr Soyer said that the Presidential Palace and the Government – which supported the law – will defend it full heartedly.

Speaking before entering this afternoon’s Council of Ministers meeting, Prime Minister Soyer criticized the main opposition National Unity Party and the Communal Liberation Party for taking the new property law to the TRNC Constitutional Court.

He said that the UBP is punishing the Turkish Cypriot people for the will it expressed during the April 2004 referendum and that the Communal Liberation Party is trying to secure political gains through their Court challenge.

The Prime Minister explained that the ruling by the European Court of Human Right’s on the Aresti case was the basis of the new law.

He said that the Court’s ruling on the Aresti case was not welcomed by the Greek Cypriot Administration which wants to put an end to the bi-zonal order on the island and to take the property issue outside the framework of a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem.

Mr Soyer noted that the new law was prepared as a local remedy to cases filed by the Greek Cypriots on property.

Earlier, the Minister of Interior Ozkan Murat also reacted to the two parties’ challenge against the law and defended the law by saying that it is not in violation of the Republic’s Constitution.

He said that new law is designed to be seen by the ECHR as an adequate domestic means of handling property disputes, but underlined the fact that a political settlement to the Cyprus problem could only bring a solution to the property cases, and not the court rulings.

Yesterday, the main opposition National Unity Party and the Communal Liberation Party made a recourse to the TRNC Constitutional Court to have the new “Law on Property Compensation, Exchange and Reinstatement” rescinded.

The law envisages compensation, exchange and reinstatement of property in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus that belonged to Greek Cypriots before the events in 1974.

The two parties, separately, decided to take the issue to the TRNC Constitutional Court - yesterday - on the last day of the three-month period allowed by the Constitution to demand that a new law is rescinded.

They claim that the new legislation constitutes a violation of the TRNC Constitution.

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The other major issue is one of confidence; the largest development (by far) in the occupied area - Amaranta Valley has been at a standstill for 6 months now. The (British) developer's bank accounts frozen, his assets ceased and his citizenship revoked. Hopefully this will be sorted shortly, but but it has done nothing for market confidence and the resale market in the north is dead.

Added to this, the proposals, subsequently rescinded, to add retorspective VAT, all property owned by foreigners to be made leasehold only etc really have put doubt in the minds of those who look beyond the low price.

Lana

[bakala]

Hi Svetlana

The TRNC is exploring all kinds of ways of trying to reassure property investors, the disturbing plan to change deeds from Freehold to leasehold when transferred from seller to buyer has been shelved as silly and counterproductive, the immediate impact would have been to virtually stop all investment by foreigners, the TRNC has recognised this,

The proposals for future security of buyers past present and future is a state guarantee that owners will not be forced into giving up their investment in any future settlement


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[bakala]

Svetlana
Thanks for the article anyway i had read it before, but its important that everyone gets the opportunity to see all sources of official news that could have an impact, Also I don’t count you Svetlana as one of those unreasonable extremists

[TonyC]

Tonyc
Anyone buying in the TRNC has to realise the immediate future is very good for a buyer if you can wade through the potential minefield of corrupt builders lawyers etc,

Excuse me, but I've seen the depths to which a lot of people sink when discussing Northern Cyprus, so I absolutely refuse to get involved in a argument concerning buying/selling property in the occupied areas.
It's sufficient for me to say that it is absolutely out of the question for me, now or ever, to buy property in the occupied north. End of discussion.

[TonyC]

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 ?

Of course I'll forgive you, Tuberider, don't worry about it. People have said a lot worse things to me....

What you say is quite right IF you put yourself into bottomless debt to buy a holiday home, and IF you want to do all those other things you mention.
However, it's my impression that the majority of holiday home buyers are mature people (if not downright old) who have saved up some extra cash and want to use it for just this purpose. Most of them don't borrow more than they can easily manage, and they want a holiday home probably because they've already achieved all that other stuff. I honestly can't see so many pensioners investing enormous sums on education, and as far as travel, fun and health are concerned - well don't holiday homes also come into that category?
And I'll repeat my conjecture that if older people wait around too long for better and better prices, they'll die with a matress full of money.

[Tuberider]

Tony

You are assuming that the market here is driven soley by rich retirees with ample funds.

In fact, most of the retirees we see here in Cyprus are living on pensions and are struggling to keep up with the price rises which have hit us hard since 2003 or so. People on fixed incomes need to live below their means, not above them, and that is very hard to do here.

Many of them have opted out for cheaper countries and lifestyles. Cyprus is just too dam expensive to retire to.

The north of Cyprus has done quite well out of this, as many have crossed the green line and bought property there, where life is still cheap and (legal issues aside) property costs quite a lot less.

Where is the flood of European pensioners hobbling into Cyprus ? I do not see it. I see instead the same properties for sale across Cyprus month after month, which does not at all suggest a 'red-hot' market but one in distress.

I do concede that there will always be a trickle of foreign buyers here, but will they inject enough cash to prop up our over-inflated market ?

I think it not.

The fundamentals are all wrong, and something somewhere is going to give.

P.S I see that the British pound has been taking a battering in the markets today, which suggests strongly that the BOE will raise interest rates in line with those of the US Fed. Euro interest rates will also have to rise. This is another point scored in favour of a property crash - higher interest rates will further stretch those who have borrowed huge sums to buy property. Interesting times indeed.

[Radio]

For the last few weeks in the Sunday Times property section there has been a box ad, with photo, of a two bed flat in Helios heights, Aphrodite Hills. The asking price started off at CYP£195k. Now it's "OIRO £185,000CYP reduced for quick sale".

Ads in the ST don't come cheap, so someone is desperate to sell.

[Tuberider]

I heard yesterday that 'Superior Real Estates' have gone tits-up and have made all their staff redundant.

They were simply not selling any property lately, hence no income.

I also hear that BuySell are in trouble and will begin to close shops down soon.

Anyone know if this is true ?

[Svetlana]

Hi tuberider

Superior are the largest Estate Agent in Cyprus; what they have decided to do is to franchise out all of their non-Paphos offices - though how the franchisees will operate without Estate Agents' licences I don't know (well I do, they will operate illegally like most here!). Superior have closed one small offcie in Paphos.

The owner is still driving round in his Bentley GT, except at the weekends when he excercises his Porsche Turbo! The company has some issues with 'investors' but I dont think there is any truth in them going to the wall.

BuySell have, I believe, closed one office on the east end of the island, but again they seem in reasonable shape. They have just launched themselves on SKY TV channel 679.

Still, I enjoy a good rumour

Lana