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By Antonis Loizou F.R.I.C.S. – Antonis Loizou & Associates Ltd – Real Estate Valuers & Estate Agents
I recently wrote about real estate and celebrities and how their “name” and owning real estate in a certain project can affect property prices.
I would like to expand this to include celebrity “locations” and their effect on property sales and prices. This time I have opted for Mykonos which is becoming more and more popular by celebrities in recent years. An island of 30,000 people (winter time) which increases to 100,000 during summer and which accommodates around 2 mln tourists a year, is an evident exaggeration of everything.
Each place has its own attraction and the characteristic of this Aegean island is that it is barren of trees, either by nature or burnt by locals (burning down any sort of vegetation on land in order not to be classed as forest land and thus not allowed to build). What is interesting, however, is the local architecture that it has managed to retain due to strict planning, even for public WCs to hotels and other businesses. The narrow streets have their attraction be it that they are very dangerous almost at all times especially at night with no lighting, pavements, etc.
A visit to Mykonos is an experience worth a visit at least once in a life time and for those who have not been we provide a sort of a competitive table of Mykonos vs Cyprus, with a ranking of 1-10 marks.
Real estate prices
It depends on location, the view offered, the quality of the beach and who the neighbour is.
On average, prices near the beach but with very good views, with some sort of a reasonable public access are:
Apts EUR 4,000/sq.m. (Cyprus EUR 3,000/sq.m.)
Houses EUR 10,000/sq.m. (Cyprus EUR 5,000/sq.m.)
For beach units:
Apts EUR 10,000/sq.m. (Cyprus EUR 7,000/sq.m. except Limassol)
Houses EUR 12,000/sq.m. (Cyprus EUR 8,000/sq.m. except Limassol)
Mykonos is not a destination for thin wallets. Not only the accommodation, but eating out (if you go out of the town destination) is an experience. A bottle of wine sells on average for EUR 30 (Cyprus average EUR 15) and reaching several thousand euros, whereas on average taxi cost is EUR 30 + 30 getting back. However, public transport is very cheap however EUR 2.50-3/trip.
Property taxes is another item to note considering that with our own abolition of the property tax, Cyprus real estate has become quite competitive. For, say, a 2- bedroom apartment in Mykonos we were informed that property taxes will reach EUR 270-350 p.a. Also, the let period is around 5 months p.a., as opposed to the average let period of 7 months p.a. in Cyprus. The let rates are similar to those found in the Protaras region, whereas lets must be more than 30 continuing days in order to be legal (be it that this regulation is similar to Cyprus as well, but it is not implemented in both countries).
In conclusion, bear in mind the constant wind and the stoemy seas which are quite common, dubbing Mykonos as The Island of Winds. Due to the expense, the local stay period is on average 4-5 days (Cyprus 8-12 days).
Having an impression as a tourist, is not necessarily correct, since there must be a lot of the “in” places, and other locations both in terms of real estate and entertainment at much lower prices.
