The general Housing Price Index (covering houses and apartments) compiled by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) continued to rise on an annual basis in the first quarter of 2025, with a decelerating increase in apartment prices but an accelerating rise in house prices.

According to a CBC statement, the overall Housing Price Index in Q1 2025 recorded a quarterly increase of 1.9%, compared to a 0.4% rise in Q4 2024.

This reflected quarterly increases of 1.8% in house prices and 1.4% in apartment prices, respectively.

On an annual basis, house prices rose by 4.8% in Q1 2025, up from 4.5% in Q4 2024, according to CBC data.

Apartment prices posted a slower annual increase of 3.5%, while house prices showed an accelerated annual growth of 5.6% during the same quarter.

Notably, for the first time since 2008, the Apartment Price Index recorded a smaller annual increase compared to the House Price Index.

Regarding property demand, the CBC bulletin cites data from the Department of Lands and Surveys showing that the total number of sale contracts in Q1 2025 increased on an annual basis, with growth observed among both domestic and foreign buyers.

The total number of sale contracts recorded an annual rise in all districts.

“The increase in the number of sale contracts from foreign buyers is consistent with the acceleration in quarterly increases recorded in both the House Price Index and the Apartment Price Index during the first quarter of 2025,” the CBC noted.

On the supply side, according to building permit data — a leading indicator of construction activity — there was a slight increase in 2024 compared to 2023.

Similarly, the European Commission’s Economic Sentiment Surveys (March 2025) showed that the diffusion index for construction activity over the past three months remained positive for six consecutive quarters.

As for annual changes in the general housing price indices by district, the CBC reported an acceleration in price growth only in Limassol (5.7%), while growth slowed in Larnaca, Paphos, and Famagusta (5.9%, 12.9%, and 7.3%, respectively), with Famagusta experiencing the greatest slowdown among them.

The annual change in the housing price index in Nicosia remained stable at 0.7%.

On an annual basis, house prices in Limassol showed a notable acceleration to 9.1% from 5.1%, while Famagusta continued to grow around 8%. In contrast, growth slowed in Paphos (to 12.7%) and to a lesser degree in Larnaca (to 6%). Nicosia recorded an annual decrease of -1.2%.

For apartment prices, annual growth decelerated in Limassol, Larnaca, and Famagusta (2.6%, 7.1%, and 7.2%, respectively), while in Nicosia and Paphos, apartment prices posted annual increases of 3.1% and 13.8%, respectively.