Cyprus house prices resume their climb in January

After monthly falls towards the end of 2006, residential house prices in Cyprus resumed their climb in January, according to the BuySell Home Price Index.

The hedonic BuySell Home Price Index, which takes into account factors such as quality, reached 119.74 in January, a rise of 2.6% on the previous month. This was the first month-on-month rise since August.

The BuySell Average Home Price was CYP 93,288 (EUR 161,091).

On a year-on-year basis, prices accelerated, rising by 8.7% over January 2006, compared with an increase of 6.6% in December.

For the whole of 2006, the BuySell Home Price Index rose by 5.9% in 2006, after a rise of 2.5% in 2005.

The BuySell Home Price Index was created and is updated monthly on behalf of BuySell Cyprus Real Estate by the independent economic research organisation S. Platis ECONOMIC RESEARCH.

The Index is announced during the second week of each month and depicts the movement of prices at which residential properties are sold in Cyprus, based on the extensive BuySell Cyprus Real Estate database.

The BuySell Home Price Index was rebased in September 2005, in order to keep the Index updated with respect to the most recent quality characteristics of the housing market in Cyprus.

For more information on the methodology of the Index and on Hedonic Prices please refer to: The “Asking Price and Transaction–based Indices for the Cyprus Housing Market (Rebased)” by Dr. Stelios Platis and Marios Nerouppos of S. Platis ECONOMIC RESEARCH.

With no other data on house prices in Cyprus ,the BuySell Home Price Index constitutes the only valid gauge of the Cyprus housing market and is considered as an effective tool for home buyers, sellers and investors.

Fiona Mullen