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Friday, 30 January 2009 00:00 |
Cyprus is one of the most popular countries in the world for investors considering purchasing property overseas, it has been revealed.
According to international property portal smartnewhomes.com, investors using the site displayed a 45 per cent increase in interest for Cypriote property between July and September of 2008.
David Bexon, managing director of the website, explained that an analysis of figures for earlier months showed that the country is consistently popular among investors.
He said: "Countries like … Cyprus are attracting second home buyers as well as property investors, because of their holiday potential.
"The significant increase in the number of consumers viewing overseas properties demonstrates the growing appeal of the overseas market, as people look to escape the gloom of the UK economy."
Plans for new Disneyland resort
Cyprus could receive a further boost to its tourism in the future if Russian conglomerate Boema Group's proposals for a Mediterranean Disney resort in the country are accepted.
The property developer announced last week that it had applied for planning permission to build the theme park and holiday resort in the town of Pyla, in the UN Buffer Zone near to the border with the north.
If the Disneyland project goes ahead, it will represent the island's largest ever single investment and could attract thousands of tourists from all over the world, much in the same way as Euro Disney in Paris.
The Russian investors are reported to be willing to spend up to £800 million on the project, settling on Cyprus because of its political stability, excellent year-round weather and membership in the European Union.
According to the Move Channel, the park will boast rides and events inspired by Greek mythology and the history of Cyprus, including a daily reconstruction of the Battle at Salamis, which was fought by the ancient Greeks and Persians in 482 BC.
The website stated: "Anything Disney related is bound to create a lot of hype and a project of this scale on an island like Cyprus cannot fail to have a large impact on both the tourism and investment sectors."
In fact, Boema Group is hoping that the Greek-themed Disneyland resort will attract between half and one million additional tourists to Lanarca every year.
It is estimated that many of these will be tourists with high spending power from Russia and other former eastern block countries, meaning that the resort could boost the market for luxury condos and villas in the region.
Growing diversity of investors
With more tourists and investors from Russia, Kazakhstan and the Middle East looking at opportunities in Cyprus, property developer Jonathon Salsbury has suggested that the country is now less vulnerable to global economic trends than when it relied more heavily on British buyers.
PropertyShowrooms.com reports that Mr Salsbury, of developer Cybarco, said: "Cypriots themselves buy second homes in a reasonable number, so you've got a market that's not entirely dependent on international buyers and certainly not dependent on the British market."
Meanwhile, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) reported in its European Housing Review 2008 that the Cypriote economy performed well last year, attributing its success to continually strong tourism numbers.
With economic growth forecast to continue, Rics also suggested that the property market in Cyprus would benefit from the recent European Central Bank rate cuts.
Peter Treherne, of property investment consultancy Independence Properties, commented: "Cyprus is ideally place to put in a really good performance over 2009."
He continued: "There is significant foreign investment planned, some very exciting projects in the pipeline and the general mood in Cyprus is a positive one.
"Couple all that with the increasing visitor numbers and investment into the Cypriot property market could be a particularly shrewd move this year." |
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