Cyprus house prices drop 1.7% in Q1

Global real estate trends have finally reached Cyprus, with residential house prices falling in the first quarter.
For the period January to March 2009, the BuySell Home Price Index recorded a cumulative decrease of 1.7% compared to December 2008.
Compared with the same period of 2008, prices fell by 2.2%. This is the first fall recorded since August 2005.
The hedonic BuySell Home Price Index is the only house price index in Cyprus.
Prices were quite volatile during the first quarter, which BuySell said is indicative of the uncertainty in the sector and the general economic environment.
Home prices recorded fell by 1.5% in January, increased by 2% in February and declined by 2.2% in March.
The BuySell Home Price Index closed at 140.52 (March 2009) bringing the Average Home Price in Cyprus down to EUR 187,053.
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 about the Index, please visit www.buysellcyprus.com
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).