Residential Property Price Index down in second quarter

CYPRUS’ Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) dropped 0.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2011, marking its sixth consecutive decrease since the first quarter of 2010.

The RPPI, prepared by the Central Bank of Cyprus, declined to 94.2 units down by 0.9 per cent from 95.0 units in Q1 of 2011.

On a year to year basis, the RPPI declined by 4.9 per cent, a drop attributed to the reduction in the apartment price index.

The biggest drop was recorded in the prices of house property in the coastal cities, with Paphos showing the biggest drop of 2.3 per cent, followed by Larnaca with 1.8 per cent. Prices of houses in Nicosia recorded a marginal decrease of 0.2 per cent.

With regard to apartment prices, the biggest reduction was recorded in the Famagusta district, a mainly tourist resort on the eastern coast, with 3.5 per cent, while apartment prices in Paphos declined by 2.5 per cent. 

Apartment and house prices recorded a marginal decrease in the rest of the districts, with the exception of Nicosia, the prices of which seem to have stabilised.

Apartment prices on a yearly basis declined by 6.5 per cent whereas the reduction in house prices was 3.7 per cent. The district RPPIs on a yearly basis recorded even larger reductions concerning apartment prices than house prices. 

The biggest reductions were recorded in apartment prices in Paphos and Larnaca with 18.4 per cent and 10.8 per cent respectively. However apartment prices in the capital Nicosia were up by 1.2 per cent compared to Q2 of 2010.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.