Cyprus house prices fall 3.5% in December

After a long period of resilience house prices in Cyprus finally succumbed to global trends in the fourth quarter, falling by 3.5% over the previous month in December according to the BuySell Home Price Index prepared by MAP S. Platis.
For the whole of 2008 house prices recorded a slight increase. However, prices were much less dynamic in 2008 compared to the previous year, influenced mainly by the worsening global economic conditions, reported MAP S. Platis.
From January to December 2008, the BuySell Home Price Index recorded a total increase of 2.8% compared to a total increase of 19.2% for 2007. In the fourth quarter, prices fell by 1.5% compared with the previous quarter.
Home prices in Cyprus during 2008 began with a strong monthly increase of 3.6% in January, followed by a 1% rise in February.
However, for the next few months prices decreased, bringing the BuySell Home Price Index to its lowest level for 2008 in July (142.42), with the Average Home Price in Cyprus falling to EUR 189,583.
This was reversed during the subsequent four months, with prices rising a total of 4%, bringing the BuySell Home Price Index to its highest level for 2008 in November (148.12).
The year ended with the overall global market conditions finally catching up, bringing about the biggest monthly fall in the last four years in December, of 3.5%.
The BuySell Home Price Index closed at 142.98, for the year bringing the Average Home Price in Cyprus to EUR 190,330.
The BuySell Home Price Index was created and is updated monthly on behalf of BuySell Cyprus Real Estate by MAP S.Platis. The Index is announced quarterly and depicts the movement of prices at which residential properties are sold in Cyprus, based on the extensive, Cyprus-wide, BuySell Cyprus Real Estate database.
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 MAP S. Platis (available at www.mapsplatis.com/research).