Cyprus property numbers, October 2026: contracts, prices, buyers
Covers property in the Republic of Cyprus (Department of Lands and Surveys records). Not the north of the island. Updated .
Short answer
Sales contracts deposited with the Department of Lands and Surveys reached 14,969 in January–September 2026, up 14% on the same months of 2025 (DLS, 5 Oct 2026). Limassol led with 4,860; Paphos grew fastest at 18%. The Central Bank index rose 8.5% year on year in Q2 2026. First of a monthly series; public figures only.
Sales contracts by district
A sales contract can be deposited at the district Land Office after signing. The table counts deposited contracts, not completed transfers of title. "Famagusta" means the free area of the district; the city of Famagusta is in the north and not covered.
| District | Jan–Sep 2025 | Jan–Sep 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limassol | 4,156 | 4,860 | +17% |
| Paphos | 2,531 | 2,999 | +18% |
| Larnaca | 2,869 | 3,291 | +15% |
| Nicosia | 2,991 | 3,163 | +6% |
| Famagusta (free area) | 626 | 656 | +5% |
| Cyprus | 13,173 | 14,969 | +14% |
| District | Sep 2025 | Sep 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limassol | 436 | 506 | +16% |
| Paphos | 313 | 345 | +10% |
| Larnaca | 305 | 393 | +29% |
| Nicosia | 351 | 374 | +7% |
| Famagusta (free area) | 79 | 63 | -20% |
| Cyprus | 1,484 | 1,681 | +13% |
Source: Department of Lands and Surveys, Contracts of Sale 2025–2026, PDF dated 5 Oct 2026; the same figures were reported by Cyprus Mail on 7 Oct 2026. Percentages are rounded. The DLS table covers January to September; a full-year 2025 table by district was not found, so this note does not quote one.
For the full year 2025 on a different basis: a professional services firm counted about 25,600 property transactions in Cyprus, up 4% on 24,700 in 2024 (PwC review reported by Politis, 18 Apr 2026). Transactions and deposited contracts are different units; do not compare the 25,600 with the DLS figures above.
Prices: Central Bank index, Q2 2026
The Central Bank of Cyprus Residential Property Price Index is built from surveyors’ reports collected by banks for lending, not from sale prices. Figures are year on year for the second quarter of 2026 (Central Bank of Cyprus, RPPI 2026 Q2, PDF; also reported by INDEX.cy, 25 Sep 2026).
| District | Q2 2026, year on year |
|---|---|
| Famagusta | +10.0% |
| Larnaca | +9.8% |
| Paphos | +9.6% (apartments +18.5%) |
| Limassol | +7.8% |
| Nicosia | +5.7% |
| Cyprus | +8.5% (quarter on quarter +2.4%; houses +5.8%, apartments +8.9%) |
- Limassol was the only district where annual growth slowed (INDEX.cy, 25 Sep 2026).
- The RICS/KPMG index for Q2 2026 gives no district figures, only notes: apartments strongest in Larnaca; houses led by Larnaca and Paphos; Nicosia flat (RICS/KPMG, Q2 2026).
- Average asking prices per m² on one portal, listings recorded since May 2024: Limassol €4,859, Paphos €3,871, Famagusta €3,711, Larnaca €2,927, Nicosia €2,110 (INDEX.cy Insights, checked 9 Oct 2026). These are asking prices, not sale prices, and a long-run average, not a monthly figure.
Foreign buyers: three bases
Three sources give a foreign-buyer share by district. They count different things in different periods. Read each row with its base; do not average them.
| District | Share of sales, 2024 (Audit Office) | Share of sales documents, Q3 2025 (Central Bank) | Share of contracts, Jan–Jul 2026 (analysis of DLS data) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paphos | 44.19% | 68% | 69.8% (1,667 contracts) |
| Larnaca | 33.85% | domestic majority, no share given | "near 46%" together with Famagusta; wording ambiguous |
| Famagusta | 26.71% | domestic majority, no share given | see Larnaca |
| Limassol | 26.51% | domestic majority, no share given | 36.5% |
| Nicosia | 7.68% | domestic majority, no share given | 15.9% |
| Cyprus | non-EU 27.35%, EU non-Cypriot 12.07%, Cypriot 61% | about 41% (1,827 of 4,444 sales documents) | 41.3% (4,980 contracts; 39.2% a year earlier) |
Sources: Audit Office figures for 2024, reported by Cyprus Mail, 23 Sep 2025 (the Audit Office called its non-EU count an undercount); Central Bank of Cyprus, Q3 2025, reported by Cyprus Mail, 9 Dec 2025 (district sales documents that quarter: Limassol 1,431, Nicosia 981, Larnaca 921, Paphos 878, Famagusta 233); analysis of DLS data for January–July 2026 in a sponsored guest column, Cyprus Mail, 8 Sep 2026.
Full year 2025, national only: 7,255 purchases by foreign buyers, up 16%, about 28% of all transactions. Growth in foreign purchases by district: Nicosia 20%, Famagusta 20%, Larnaca 17%, Paphos 17%, Limassol 13% (PwC review reported by Politis, 18 Apr 2026).
Non-EU buyers, September 2026
The DLS splits foreign buyers into EU and non-EU. For September 2026 against September 2025, only growth rates were published, not shares (Cyprus Mail, 7 Oct 2026):
- Cyprus: other-EU buyers +4%; non-EU buyers +26%.
- Non-EU buyers by district: Limassol +45%, Paphos +30%, Larnaca +27%. Nicosia and Famagusta declined; no figures were given.
By nationality, the latest district breakdown is older: Land Registry data for September 2024 to September 2025 given to Parliament put British buyers first in Paphos (890) and Famagusta district (220), Israelis first in Larnaca (850), Russians first in Limassol (846) and Greeks first in Nicosia (403) (Cyprus Mail, 24 Oct 2025).
Rents
Average monthly rents as quoted on CyBC and reported by Cyprus Mail on 23 Jul 2026. No month is given and the figures read as estimates, so treat them as orders of magnitude.
| City | 1-bedroom | 2-bedroom |
|---|---|---|
| Limassol | €1,000–1,100 | €1,400–1,500 |
| Nicosia | €600–650 | €800–900 |
| Larnaca | €500–600 | €700–800 |
| Paphos | €500–550 | €700–800 |
| Famagusta | not reported | not reported |
What the numbers do not show
- Condition. No figure above says anything about a building’s structure, damp, roof or services. Public registers do: 226 buildings were recorded as dangerous in Paphos city and district (Sigmalive / CNA, 17 Apr 2026), and Nicosia district had 1,495 cases on its register with 711 classified as dangerous (Cyprus Mail, 1 Sep 2026). See our explainer (Dangerous buildings in Cyprus: what it means).
- Title status. A deposited contract is not a title deed. The scheme for legalising unlicensed works closed on 23 Jun 2025 with 2,841 applications (FastForward, 8 Jul 2025); works added without a permit since then can still block a deed.
- One street or one building. District figures cover a whole district and all property types.
- What a home is worth, or where prices go next. This note reports indices and counts; it makes no forecast.
Methodology
- Sources: Department of Lands and Surveys monthly contracts table (PDF dated 5 Oct 2026); Central Bank of Cyprus Residential Property Price Index Q2 2026 (Central Bank PDF; also reported by INDEX.cy, 25 Sep 2026); Audit Office figures via Cyprus Mail (23 Sep 2025); Central Bank Q3 2025 figures via Cyprus Mail (9 Dec 2025); DLS analysis in a sponsored column, Cyprus Mail (8 Sep 2026); DLS September figures via Cyprus Mail (7 Oct 2026); PwC review via Politis (18 Apr 2026); rents via Cyprus Mail (23 Jul 2026); asking prices from INDEX.cy Insights (checked 9 Oct 2026).
- Where a figure reached us through a news report rather than the publisher’s own document, the report is named. The Central Bank and the Audit Office publish their own documents; confirm there before quoting.
- This page covers property in the Republic of Cyprus only, not the north of the island. Percentages are rounded to whole numbers for the DLS table and kept as published elsewhere.
- Etimo inspection findings (share of homes with damp signs, share without a certificate of final approval, median number of defects) will be added once at least 10 inspections per figure exist. They will be observations from Etimo inspections, not a market survey, island-wide first, counts only, with no addresses and no developer names.
- This note is updated monthly after the DLS publishes its contracts table. Figures get revised; check the date of this edition before you compare it with the next.
Your lawyer interprets legal title; Etimo does not. Nothing on this page describes any single property.
Property Brief
The 7 documents for a home in Cyprus, what each shows, and the questions for your lawyer.
Sources
- Department of Lands and Surveys, Contracts of Sale 2025–2026 (PDF, monthly by district, dated 5 Oct 2026)
- Cyprus Mail, 7 Oct 2026: Limassol leads Cyprus property surge as sales near 15,000 (DLS data, September 2026)
- Central Bank of Cyprus, Residential Property Price Index 2026 Q2 (PDF), checked 7 Oct 2026
- INDEX.cy, 25 Sep 2026: Cyprus property market sees 8.5% price growth in Q2 2026 (reporting the Central Bank of Cyprus RPPI, Q2 2026)
- INDEX.cy Insights, average asking prices per m² by district (listings recorded since May 2024; page checked 9 Oct 2026, listings to 3 Oct 2026)
- Cyprus Mail, 23 Sep 2025: non-EU buyers purchase over 25% of Cyprus properties (Audit Office, sales in 2024)
- Cyprus Mail, 9 Dec 2025: nearly 2 in 5 property sales in Cyprus go to foreign buyers (Central Bank, Q3 2025)
- Cyprus Mail, 8 Sep 2026: Cyprus property sees 13,288 sales in 8 months (sponsored guest column, DLS data Jan–Jul 2026)
- Politis, 18 Apr 2026: 7,255 properties sold to foreign buyers in 2025 (PwC Real Estate Market, Year in Review 2025)
- Cyprus Mail, 24 Oct 2025: British, Israelis and Russians top list of foreign property buyers (Land Registry data given to Parliament, Sep 2024–Sep 2025)
- Cyprus Mail, 23 Jul 2026: Limassol remains Cyprus’ most expensive city for renters (figures quoted on CyBC; no month given)
- Sigmalive / CNA, 17 Apr 2026: alarm over 226 dangerous buildings in Paphos
- Cyprus Mail, 1 Sep 2026: developers call for building inspections and a dangerous-building law (Nicosia district register figures)
- FastForward, 8 Jul 2025: urban planning amnesty scheme ends in Cyprus (closed 23 Jun 2025, 2,841 applications)
General information, not legal advice. Your lawyer interprets legal title; Etimo does not.