Foreigners are involved in 42% of Cyprus property contracts, not half

Cyprus’s parliament and government are preparing amendments to the law on property purchases by foreigners. The measures concern citizens of countries outside the EU: a ban on buying land near military camps and restrictions on purchasing plots in agricultural zones are being discussed.

The issue was prompted by MPs’ statements that foreigners account for half of all property transactions, and that the purchase of plots near the ceasefire line, military facilities, airports and ports creates security risks.

Minister of the Interior Konstantinos Ioannou said that the timing of submitting the amendments to a plenary session depends not on the government but on parliament. Restrictions on land purchases and construction near airports are already in force and apply to everyone.

Pavlos Loizou, CEO of analytics company Ask Wire, called the claim that foreigners account for half the market both true and untrue. The Land Registry counts deposited sales contracts and completed title transfers separately; these figures cannot be added together. In 2025, 7,255 of 18,114 contracts involved foreigners, while from January to August 2026, the figure was 5,562 out of 13,288.

Foreigners account for about 42% of contracts, not 50%, while their share of completed title transfers remains around 20%. Citizens of non-EU countries, who are the focus of the amendments, account for about 27% of contracts and 10–12% of completed transactions. In 2025, activity among foreign buyers increased by 16.5%, while the contracts market grew by 14.7%.

Foreign demand puts pressure on prices in coastal areas, new-build properties and the land-for-development market, but the data do not support attributing the lack of affordable housing across the country to foreign buyers. Paphos has the highest share of transactions involving foreigners, yet prices there are not rising the fastest, while in the Famagusta district, where the share is around 46.5%, the housing price index barely changed.

“Foreign demand has increased, and it needs to be monitored,” Loizou said. “But security, housing affordability and investment policy require different data and different tools.”