The Cypriot property rental market is seeing a notable rise in apartment rents, increasing by 5.0 percent annually, while sales prices remain stable. This trend reflects a shift in consumer preference towards renting over buying, driven by factors like high construction costs and mortgage rates.
The Real Estate Agents Registration Council in Cyprus is championing a ban on shortterm rentals like Airbnb to address the rental market crisis, caused by inflated prices and a scarcity of longterm housing. Marinos Kineyirou, the council president, advocates for a more regulated approach to stabilize the market and ensure affordable housing for residents, echoing measures taken in Barcelona to combat similar issues.
The Cyprus rental market is witnessing a surge in costs, with apartment rentals rising by 9.3% and house rentals by 6.4%. This increase is attributed to geopolitical unrest impacting international demand and financial factors like high mortgage rates affecting local purchasing power.
Cyprus has introduced innovative housing policies to combat the housing crisis, including ‘built to rent’ and ‘renovate to rent’ schemes. These policies offer increased building coefficients, tax incentives, and obligations for developers to allocate units for affordable housing sales, with the aim of diversifying housing options and making renting more accessible. These groundbreaking regulatory changes and financial incentives have the potential to set a precedent for other nations facing similar challenges.
