A few months (8 months) ago we wrote in this article about an encounter we had with a Russian lady who was our buyer, who bought a beach property in Larnaca against our advice (because of the high price) and turned against us. and she said that “You don’t know the value for us Russians who live 10 months of the year in the cold, what this village means…”. We thought, at that moment, “She must be very rich to say this, but what matters to us is to tell her otherwise”. After 8 months of this meeting we have other experiences to tell you, that after all, it seems that she may be absolutely right.

– 2 months ago a beach plot in Limassol was sold for £700,000 pd (20% building density), the highest price ever for a beach property in Cyprus (£25,000,000) when the going rate was from £500,000 pd The buyer contacted us and we said “you must be crazy” to buy this at this price. After 2 months, he called us back to say, “I’m not as crazy as you think, because now I have an offer of £1,000,000 pd.”

– Land on Dhekelia road with going rate £300,000 pd (max) 3 months ago, sold last month for £450,000 pd! (£3,600,000).

– Land in Paphos with no access and no water supply (purely speculative land) but situated within a development zone full of ancient monuments, on the beach was sold for £250,000 pd – Incredible price.

– Land in Mazotos not on the beach but close to the possible golf course sold for £250,000 pd (last year maxed out at £100,000 pd).

– Land in the Paralimni area on the beach is now selling (with numerous buyers) for £500,000 pd (last year £350,000 pd).

– The land at Alaminos 220 d was sold for £440,000 pd (£97,000,000) at a rate in effect last year of £250,000 pd

– Etcetera etcetera

Why do you think prices have skyrocketed at such an alarming rate and of course so high? We think mainly because the “Russians are buying” in increasing volume in terms of land/beach property.

As Russians get richer due to rising oil and gas prices, a new generation of much wealthier Russian buyers is emerging. The paranoia of Russians buying “us” is the talk of the town nowadays.

Beachfront apartments have averaged £3,000-6,000/m2 and beach houses £7,000-10,000/m2. Unbelievable as it may seem, a developer called us from the Paralimni area to tell us that he has 5 villas for sale at £600,000/unit (not a popular market in Russia). We sold all 5 in 10 days, 4 of which to locals and one to a British guy. This same project had 15 beach apartments with an average price of £3,500/m2, which was sold in 15 days to a buyer (??) for £4,500,000!! What is quite interesting is the current price of luxury houses in Limassol. The fee is now £7.0 million. for a house of around 800 m2. and in lands of around 2,000-3,000 m2. not on the beach. So that you do not think that it is an isolated situation, we had a client with an unlimited budget (so we declared it) and we were embarrassed to show him houses north of the beach (around 1 km) that were not worth more than €2,000. We did and he bought one immediately at the asking price of £3.5 million! Word has got out and anyone with a house to sell, be it a large plot of land and the size of the unit mentioned, wants a price of £7.0 million!

This could be thought to be a beach situation and for individual cases and why should we bother. But, on the other hand, such sales have a side effect on non-beach land. So in Limassol again we have prices off the coastal road at £400,000 pd and in the Protaras area £280,000 pd The land in Tersefanou near the possible golf course, which was for sale at £150,000 pd last year, now for sale at £250,000 ft (not on the golf course but close to it).

We, as we claim to be real estate experts, have lost track of what is happening and are no longer trying to predict. However, what worries us are the new strict financial measures introduced by the Central Bank that require a participation of 40% of the buyers in terms of a % of the total sale price or the valuation prepared by an independent appraiser (what be less). We expect this to affect the pace of demand and prices, but on the other hand people who buy at this high end and at those exorbitant prices, we doubt they will be affected. Recently an apartment building in Limassol, not on the beach but close to it, either top quality design (not built yet) is selling for £150,000 for a one bedroom apartment and 30% has already been sold! sold! It is possible that we have told you about a client of ours who owns a plot of 135 m2. beach house in Protaras that you bought for £170,000 4 years ago and had a local knocking on your door offering you £700,000 (not even a Russian). He asked us for advice and we said, do it, if you can find something similar to yours on the beach (he couldn’t). Imagine if this buyer was Russian. We feel like sometimes we live in the UK in Maple Arch or in Kolonaki in Athens. You have seen the movie “The Russians are Coming” but let’s add, with a lot of money!!