Cyprus · CYP · snapshot 2026-10-06
Cyprus
Measured
Currency movement
Not measured
This market's currency is the euro, so there is no euro reference rate for it and no entry window to state.
Foreign-buyer rules
7 of 7 published rules apply
These are the restrictions a foreign buyer meets before price is even discussed — approval regimes, surcharges, ownership limits.
What it does not show. It is not a completeness claim. A rule we have not read is not a rule that does not exist, and this row counts what is cited, not what is in force.
Cost of money
2.25%
The price of money to banks across the euro area, set by the European Central Bank rather than by anything in this country. It sets the floor everything else is priced from, and it is identical in every member state.
What it does not show. It is not a mortgage quote, and it is not a fact that distinguishes this market from any other euro-area member — the rate is the same in all of them, so it can never be the reason to prefer one over another. What differs between them is what a bank adds on top, which this does not measure. What a non-resident is offered is a different number again, usually much higher.
Supply against absorption
Not measured
No statistics agency for this market has been read and cleared for republication.
Residential price cycle
Not measured
The OECD house-price dataset does not carry Cyprus.
Valuation against its own history
Not measured
The OECD house-price dataset does not carry Cyprus.
On the market now
Not measured
No listings platform has been read for this market. The one platform this site can read covers Russian cities only, and inventing a count for anywhere else would be worse than an empty row.
No dossier has been written for this market yet. What follows is the measured layers and the rules, each with its source — not an argument about whether to be here. A market reaches this page as soon as two layers can be cited, because an unwritten thesis is a reason to publish less, not a reason to publish nothing.
The series behind those figures, and the workings
Cost of money
2.25%
Central bank policy rate, 2026-08. Source: Bank for International Settlements.
This is the price of money to banks, not the price of money to a non-resident buying a building. The gap between those two is where a market’s financing story actually lives, and it is not in this number. A mortgage quote for a foreign buyer depends on the lender, the asset and the borrower, and no public dataset carries it.
BIS terms permit this figure on a free page and state that nothing in their statistics constitutes investment advice. They also allow inclusion in a commercial product only where it adds no charge, so this series is published here and is not priced into any paid work.
Background
Annual national statistics from the World Bank, under a licence that permits reuse with attribution. They describe the country; they do not time an entry, and they are not counted as measurements of this market — otherwise every territory on earth would claim to be measured on the strength of one dataset.
| Indicator | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|
| GDP per capita | 41,783 US$ | 2025 |
| Consumer price inflation | 0.1 % | 2025 |
| Population | 1,370,754 | 2025 |
| Urban population | 66.7 % of total | 2025 |
| Official exchange rate | 0.8850 per US$ | 2025 |
What the rules do to a foreign buyer
Each entry cites the instrument and the authority page it was read from, with the date it was retrieved. Facts of law change; the retrieval date is how you know how old this reading is.
| Topic | How it fails you | In force | When it bites | Applies to | What applies | Instrument | Read on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permission of the Council of Ministers, and who needs it | Somebody has to say yesMoney does not open itYou paid and hold nothing | In forceNot stated by the source | On the way in | All propertyYour passport | A non-EU/EEA individual needs the Council of Ministers' prior permit to acquire immovable property in Cyprus other than by inheritance. The application goes to the District Officer on form COMM 145. EU/EEA citizens and companies established and seated in an EU/EEA state are outside the law's alien category and need no permit, whether the property is a primary or second home. The 2011 amendment is presumed to have taken effect on publication on 16 December 2011; a separate commencement date has not been established. | Immovable Property Acquisition (Aliens) Law, Cap. 109, s. 2 (alien definition, paras (γ) and (δ) as replaced by Law 161(I)/2011) and s. 3. | 2026-09-28 |
| A signed contract is not a right to acquire | Somebody has to say yesMoney does not open itYou paid and hold nothing | In forceNot stated by the source | On the way in | All propertyYour passport | A valid contract or agreement, written or oral, providing for the acquisition of immovable property by an alien shall not confer upon that alien any right to acquire the property, except only upon the grant of the Council of Ministers' permit. Separately, where the acquisition exceeds the extent necessary for the erection of premises for a house or professional roof, and in any case exceeds the extent of two donums, any permit granted is subject to such terms, limitations, conditions and criteria as may be set by Regulations made by the Council of Ministers and approved by the House of Representatives. | The Immovable Property Acquisition (Aliens) Law, Cap. 109, ss. 3(1A) and 3(3). | 2026-09-28 |
| Transfer fee on registering a sale | It costs | In forceNot stated by the source | On the way in | All propertyEveryone | A fee is due when a Cyprus property sale is registered. The DLS says the transfer fee is reduced by 50% when the transaction is not subject to VAT. This source does not establish the 3%, 5% and 8% fee bands or a fee amount for a particular transaction. | Department of Lands and Surveys transfer-fee service page; the underlying fee schedule was not verified here. | 2026-09-28 |
| No transfer fee where VAT is charged | The restriction you expected is not there | In forceNot stated by the source | On the way in | All propertyEveryone | The DLS says transfer fees are fully exempt when the transaction is subject to VAT. Whether a particular sale is subject to VAT must be established separately. | Department of Lands and Surveys transfer-fee service page. | 2026-09-28 |
| Reduced VAT for a main and permanent home | It costs | In forceNot stated by the source | On the way in | Residential onlyEveryoneLived in | The Tax Department provides a 5% reduced VAT route for purchase or construction of a first residence. Eligibility depends on applicable area and value limits and on the main-residence condition. The mandate records none of those transaction facts; the exact limits and transitional position have not been established here. | VAT Law 95(I)/2000, s. 18(1), Fifth Schedule, Table C, as amended by Law 42(I)/2023. | 2026-09-28 |
| A non-resident individual's rent from a Cyprus dwelling | It costs | In forceNot stated by the source | While you hold it | Residential onlyWhere you liveLet to a tenant | Cyprus taxes income from leasing immovable property. The treatment of a non-resident individual's rent from a particular dwelling, including deductions, personal bands, SDC and GESY, requires confirmation; the 2026 bands are not established by this page. | Tax Department, leasing of immovable property topic page; detailed statutory provisions were not verified here. | 2026-09-28 |
| National annual immovable property tax abolished | The restriction you expected is not there | In forcefrom 2017-01-01 | While you hold it | All propertyEveryone | Cyprus abolished its national annual immovable property tax from 1 January 2017, so that charge is no longer due on a holding. This does not establish whether municipal or other local property charges apply; those charges were not researched. | Immovable property tax repeal, effective 1 January 2017, as recorded by the Cyprus Tax Department; the repealing law number was not established. | 2026-09-28 |
Rules we know of and have not established
These are not entries in the ledger above and carry no coverage. Each names a rule that bears on a foreign purchase here and says what has not been settled about it. Treat this page as silent on them — not as saying they do not apply.
Standard VAT on a taxable dwelling supply — not established
Open question: is this dwelling transaction a taxable new supply, and what official document establishes its standard VAT rate? The linked Tax Department page concerns the 5% first-residence reduction and does not establish a 19% standard rate.
Capital gains tax on disposal of Cyprus property — not established
A disposal of Cyprus immovable property can attract capital gains tax on the taxable gain, with permitted costs, indexation and lifetime relief. The reported 20% rate and, from 2026, reported €30,000 general and €150,000 eligible main-residence lifetime allowances require confirmation in the official operative text. These are capped relief against tax; CGT can remain due above the caps. Treaty and case-specific treatment remain open.
Whether purchase-contract stamp duty ended — not established
Open question: did the 2026 reform repeal stamp duty on this property purchase contract, and from what effective date? Secondary sources report that Law 239(I)/2025 repealed stamp duty from 1 January 2026, but the operative official text has not been established from this reform hub.
Stamp Duty (Repeal) Law 239(I)/2025; operative provisions and commencement not read.
What is missing, and why
currency — Source does not cover this market
The dataset simply does not include this territory. Absent, not zero.
This market's currency is the euro, so there is no euro reference rate for it and no entry window to state.
valuation — Source does not cover this market
The dataset simply does not include this territory. Absent, not zero.
The OECD house-price dataset does not carry Cyprus.
supply — Source does not cover this market
The dataset simply does not include this territory. Absent, not zero.
No statistics agency for this market has been read and cleared for republication.
What supports this, what would make it wrong, and how it could go
Record
| Why this market is on the list | Added for its foreign-buyer rules; the original English consolidation was superseded on the EU secondary-residence point by Law 161(I)/2011. Cyprus is a euro-area member, so the cost-of-money layer is the ECB's shared rate and there is no currency layer; the OECD house-price dataset does not carry it. The friction layer is what makes this market measured. |
|---|---|
| Dossier | None written. Layers and rules only, which is why this market reads as “Measured” rather than reviewed. |
| Next review | 2026-11-15 |
| Evidence snapshot | 2026-10-06 |