Assetz® News » HOME | RSS Feed FEED | LIST ALL ARTICLES | ASSETZ HOMEPAGE
Investment Property News from Assetz

Assetz® Property News Service

Not crunched in Cyprus

5th September 2008 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

The findings of the recent Knight Frank global survey of property trends suggested, on the basis of bare figures, that Cyprus has been doing very well. From having eight per cent property price inflation in the second quarter of 2007, the island was up to 12.9 per cent in the second quarter of this year.

What many will ask is whether those figures are telling a deeper truth about Cyprus, or whether they are a flash in the pan, the consequence of temporary circumstances. But events that could affect property in Cyprus have been numerous in recent years and continue to be. The accession to the European Union in 2004 and the adoption of the euro as the national currency this year are two (linked) cases in point, while last year it might have been argued that some will have rushed to buy before August 1st, at which point 15 per cent VAT was levied on the value of any land being bought. In the future, any settlement with the north may have implications too - though what are not yet known and the whole process may be too complex and protracted to make this part of the island anything like a safe bet for investors now.

But while all these have had an effect - or may in the future - the issue being faced in most markets around the world is the credit crunch. Any market in Europe has to have a way of dealing with this to cope. In France the high level of stability compared to some of its neighbours has been repeatedly attributed to its strict lending criteria and high deposits. A lack of a particularly cyclical market has helped Scotland enjoy a situation where prices have still (just) been rising recently. So what of Cyprus?

According to Paul Collins, editor of overseas property magazine BuyAssociation, the answer lies in the sheer popularity of the island as a buyer destination.

He stated: "It's always been a popular destination for people who are looking to emigrate away from the UK. And quite often what we see in times of economic, political or even social turbulence in the UK, it tends to galvanise people's decisions to move overseas permanently to emigrate and - or - to retire."

Mr Collins added that this trend is likely to continue unless the whole Cypriot economy starts to suffer as others are doing. Otherwise, he suggests, the island may be growing as the beneficiary of the problems of others.

So while some find ways of weathering the crunch, it seems that the ill wind blowing the roof off some markets could be putting the wind in Cypriot sails.

Assetz® is a UK and International Property Investment Specialist. Please visit our property sites shown below.

Assetz for Investors UK Assetz Hotels Assetz Homes Assetz International Assetz France Assetz Spain Assetz Cyprus Assetz Germany Assetz Portugal Assetz Ski Assetz Cape Verde Assetz USA Assetz Finance Assetz Fund Management

Accessing the news service

You can view all of the Assetz® UK, International and UK Property Investment Articles and News here.

We also provide an RSS Feed Feed of the news service, or you can view all articles. Click here to view more information on RSS readers and how they make reading online news more convenient.

eXTReMe Tracker