2015: a good year for cyprus property?

2015 could be a good year for the Cypriot property market, says one agent. New figures from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors show that the average price of houses and apartments fell 1.1 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively in the final three months of 2014.

"Real estate prices are expected to continue declining in 2015 in view of developments in the financial sector, particularly as regards non-performing loans, strict lending policy and high interest rates," Charalambos Petrides from RICS Cyprus told Cyprus Property News.

While the downward trend might appear to continue this year, though, official statistics from the Department of Lands and Surveys, sales in 2014 overall recorded their first year-on-year increase since 2010. Transactions rose 20 per cent annually.

"It seems that transactions have rebounded and the price fall restores activity with increased property sales," added Pettrides.

In previous months, the rise has been partly driven by overseas sales climbing. Last year, though, transactions to foreign buyers declined. 1,193 sales went to foreign buyers, compared to 4,527 sales to Cypriots. In December 2014, international sales fell 14 per cent year-on-year, as domestic sales climbed by more than a third.

For local real estate firms, though, the rebound in domestic activity is more promising indicator of the market's future prospects than overseas investment.

"Logic would dictate that the local buyer is in a much better position to know the local market and the 'real market value' a lot more intimately than a foreign buyer," argues Daryl Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Marketing.

He adds that local people are "actively looking to buy properties", adding that they held 929 accompanied viewings in 2014 overall, 79 per cent higher than 2013.

"At this time of great hardship in the country they have the courage of conviction that 'this is it', invest now! It is difficult to imagine that they would take this option otherwise."