CYPRUS: Property sales spike as investors rush to beat new passport criteria

A rush by investors to qualify for a Cyprus passport saw the submission of sales document with the Land Registry by third-country nationals skyrocket 55% in May compared to the previous month.

The sharp increase is believed to be related to the new and more stringent criteria for the Citizenship for Investment scheme introduced from 15 May.

According to data released by the Land Registry, the number of properties for which sales documents have been submitted in May reached 476 compared from 306 the previous month. Sales documents submitted in January 2019 by third-country nationals was only 250.

Chairman of the Cyprus Property Owners Association (KSIA),  George Mouskides said the increase is directly related to the new criteria which foresee the number of citizenships granted limited to 700, while the minimum investment has been increased from EUR 2 mln to EUR 2.5 mln and an extra EUR 150,000 in fees for procedures has been added to the bill of a candidate investor.

The largest increase for May was recorded in Limassol as 189 sales documents were submitted by third-country nationals compared to 116 in April, followed by Paphos with 160 in May compared to 107 in the previous month.

The percentage of sales by third-country nationals recorded in Limassol and Paphos is 73%.

It should be noted that in January 2019 sales documents from third-country nationals in Limassol were only 69. In short, from January to May sales have almost tripled.

Sales documents submitted by citizens from non-EU countries make up 33.4% of all property sales recorded in May.