Who Is Buying Cyprus Property? Foreign Buyers at About 42%
Foreign buyers were linked to about 42% of property sale contracts deposited in Cyprus in January–August 2026. But completed transfers to foreigners remain close to 20%, and non-EU buyers account for a smaller share than often claimed.
By RealDeal team · 3 min read · Published 15 Sept 2026 · Updated 8 Oct 2026
Contents
The share of foreign buyers in the Cyprus property market has become a political issue, with claims that half of all sales involve foreigners. Data presented in a Cyprus Mail analysis on 14 September give a more nuanced picture. In January–August 2026, 5,562 of the 13,288 sale contracts deposited with the Land Registry, about 42%, were associated with foreign buyers. Completed transfers to foreigners, however, remain close to 20%.
Contracts versus transfers
| Measure | Foreign buyers | Of which non-EU |
|---|---|---|
| Share of deposited sale contracts, Jan–Aug 2026 | ~42% | ~27% |
| Share of completed transfers | ~20% | ~10–12% |
Source: Cyprus Mail.
The two measures answer different questions. Sale contracts are deposited when a deal is signed, including off-plan purchases that may take years to complete. Transfers record the moment ownership actually changes. Headline figures in the political debate often mix the two.
Growth in foreign demand
Foreign-associated contracts in January–August 2026 were about 20.4% higher than a year earlier, faster than the overall market, where contracts rose 14% from 11,689 to 13,288. For 2025 as a whole, foreign buyers accounted for 7,255 of 18,114 contracts, or about 40%.
EU buyers are growing faster
Non-EU buyers still make up the majority of foreign purchases, but their share is falling, according to a Delfi Partners analysis of Land Registry data:
| Period | Non-EU share of foreign-buyer contracts |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 72.6% |
| 2024 | 70.1% |
| 2025 | 66.9% |
| Jan–Jul 2026 | 66.1% |
The same analysis identifies Paphos as the largest market for foreign buyers. According to BuySell, 42% of contracts there in January–July went to foreigners. Yet foreign demand in Paphos is growing more slowly than the district's market as a whole.
Are foreign buyers driving prices?
The Central Bank of Cyprus has cited strong demand, mainly from foreign buyers, as a driver of price growth. However, the Cyprus Mail analysis concludes that the claim that foreign buyers are responsible for housing unaffordability across Cyprus is too broad to be supported by the data. If foreigners mainly buy higher-end properties, their direct competition with local households looking for modest homes is limited. Cyprus also already has an approval framework for property acquisitions by many non-EU buyers.
What this means
For investors, developers and agents, the key is to use the right measure: about two in five contracts, but about one in five completed transfers, involve foreign buyers, and non-EU buyers account for roughly a quarter of contracts. EU buyers are a growing part of foreign demand, and Paphos remains the district where foreigners matter most.