|
Company Profile
Antonis Loizou & Associates is a professional firm of Chartered Surveyors
offering valuation, agency and project management services. The firm was set up
in 1980 and is the largest and most comprehensive professional firm of
Chartered Surveyors in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean over the last 20
years. The firm employs 60
members of staff across 8 offices in Cyprus and Romania, and is one of
the leading real estate advisors for corporations, finance houses, as well as
the local government and individual members of the public.
About us
Subscribe to this newletter
|
Issue 23,
February 2011
|
Newsletter: Issue 23,February 2011
|
|
|
Cyprus Economy
• Eurostat
announced that the Euro area annual inflation was 2.3% in January 2011, up from
2.2% in December 2010. For Cyprus the annual inflation rate for January 2011 was
at 3%.
• Eurostat announced that unemployment in Cyprus increased to 7.7% in January
2011, compared to a 7.3% in December 2010. The euro area seasonally-adjusted
unemployment rate was 9.9% in January 2011, compared with 10.0% in December
2010.
• According to the Statistics Department of Cyprus, the number of those
registered as unemployed accelerated in February 2011 to 29,806, rising by 24.5%
compared to February 2010.
• US energy firm Noble has said that it hopes to start drilling for "sizable
quantities of gas" off the coast of Cyprus later this year if all goes according
to plan."Our intention is to accelerate the drilling off the well in Cyprus
block 12," said Noble's vice president of international operations Terry Gerhart
after meeting Cyprus President Demetris Christofias. " Gerhart said the
Texan-based company had no exact estimate of the hydrocarbon deposits inside
Cyprus's economic exclusive zone, but seismic surveys were "very favourable"
indicating a "sizeable quantity".
• Moody’s Investor Service took a swipe at Cyprus’ big three banks, downgrading
all three banks, at the same time as praising the strong liquidity positions of
the banks. The news came just as Bank of Cyprus starts a road show in London in
order to raise EUR 1.34 bln in contingent convertible bonds (CoCos). The banks’
downgrade comes hot on the heels of the two-notch downgrade of the Republic of
Cyprus to A2 from Aa3 on February 24, blamed largely the government’s
short-termism in its approach to cutting the public deficit.
Cyprus Property Market
• A Russian investor has applied to the Larnaca Municipality for a renovation of
the old hotel known as “Gran Papa”, near the Makenzi beach. Detailed drawings
have been supplied to the authorities for the complete renovation of the old
hotel into a Boutique Hotel.
• The land owners of an area in Oroklini, which is of interest to Russian
Investor for the creation of a theme park have created a company. It appears
that all owners are in agreement and the forming of the company is a vehicle for
either selling the land or acquiring a share of the company that will be running
the theme park. The value of the project, if it goes ahead is estimated at €800
million as it will occupy an area of 1000 donums (1.338.000 sq.m.)
• Hermes Airports is in the planning stage of building a professional car racing
track near the old Larnaca Airport. The project goes by the name Sky Motor City
and it will be the first of its kind in Cyprus. Even though the idea is still
being worked on it will likely provide a number of services with the core
function a racing track which would possibly be good enough to host
international racing events.
• The construction of the long awaited port and marina development in Larnaca is
expected to finally get underway in January 2012, along with other improvements
to the area which should make the town an even more popular tourist destination
and in turn drive demand for property in the region.
• A group of Russian Investors, who already hold other investments on the
Island, are interested in creating a Boutique style hotel in the heart of
Nicosia. In particular, with the increased activity of Spyros Kyprianou Avenue
and the surrounding area, they are planning to develop three large plots between
the Avenues of Spyrou Kyprianou, Nikis and Kennedy. The development will
incorporate a small scale office development, which will serve the hotel.
|
Global Property Market
• European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet took investors by
surprise when he announced policy makers may raise the benchmark rate from a
record low of 1 percent in April to combat mounting inflation pressures. While
Trichet said the step would not necessarily be the start of a series of
increases, Governing Council member Axel Weber said the bank is embarking on a
“normalization” of rates from crisis levels.
• Greek real-estate prices are likely to decline 15 percent over the next two
years as interest-rate increases make it harder for borrowers hit by austerity
measures to keep up with mortgage payments, according to Fitch Ratings.
• UK house prices fell by 0.9% in February compared with the previous month,
cancelling out a rise in January, the Halifax has said. The lender, now part of
Lloyds Banking Group, said that year-on-year prices had dropped by 2.8% in
February.
• According to the RICS Housing Market Survey January 2011, the UK housing
market remained sluggish during January, due to continued lack of buyer demand
and low levels of supply
• The third decline in U.S. home prices in three years is driving a pickup in
sales as bargain hunters rush to buy before mortgage rates rise, even as values
may slump further. Mounting foreclosures pushed the median price for a U.S.
existing home to $158,800 in January, the lowest level since 2002, according to
the National Association of Realtors. At the same time, sales climbed 22 percent
from October, the biggest three-month gain since the end of a homebuyer tax
credit. The rally began as mortgage rates started to rise from record lows in
November and the economic expansion picked up speed.
• Credit Suisse Group AG, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank, agreed to sell
about 6.2 billion Swiss francs (5 billion euros) of contingent convertible bonds
to shareholders in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
• Standard & Poor's (S&P) says it expects Portugal's economy to shrink 2% this
year and is reviewing its debt ratings."We see the government as having made
little progress on any growth-enhancing reforms," said the rating agency. S&P
also hinted that the new eurozone bail-out fund being discussed may actually
worsen Portugal's creditworthiness
• Spain raised euro3.8 billion in an oversubscribed auction of 3 and 5-year
bonds, but at higher interest rates that reflected investor worries over public
finances in Europe. The Treasury said it sold euro1.15 billion in 3-year bonds
at an average interest rate of 3.59 percent, up from 3.25 at the last such
auction on Feb 3. The auction was about 3 times oversubscribed.
|
Cost of Debt |
| |
GBP LIBOR |
EURIBOR |
| |
7/3/2011 |
One year ago |
7/3/2011 |
One year ago |
| 3 month |
0.81% |
0.64% |
1.17% |
0.65% |
| 6 month |
1.11% |
0.87% |
1.49% |
0.96% |
| 12 month |
1.58% |
1.31% |
1.94% |
1.22% |
| 2 year |
1.91% |
1.69% |
2.31% |
1.52% |
| 3 year |
2.36% |
2.26% |
2.61% |
1.88% |
| 5 year |
3.00% |
3.02% |
3.01% |
2.46% |
| 10 year |
3.83% |
3.92% |
3.54% |
3.34% |
| 15 year |
4.12% |
4.26% |
3.82% |
3.74% |
| 30 year |
4.13% |
4.22% |
3.74% |
3.76% |
|
Sales Contracts across Cyprus -
2009/2010
| |
Cyprus |
Nicosia |
Limassol |
Larnaca |
Famagusta |
Paphos |
|
2009 |
8170 |
2235 |
2007 |
1469 |
881 |
1578 |
|
Foreign |
1761 |
219 |
415 |
314 |
249 |
564 |
|
Local |
6409 |
2016 |
1592 |
1155 |
632 |
1014 |
|
2010 |
8598 |
2537 |
2202 |
1389 |
848 |
1622 |
|
Foreign |
2030 |
320 |
465 |
299 |
290 |
656 |
|
Local |
6568 |
2217 |
1737 |
1090 |
558 |
966 |
|
Inc/Dec '09/'10
% |
5% |
16% |
10% |
-5% |
-4% |
3% |
Sales Contracts across Cyprus -
March 2009 - 2011
| January |
Cyprus |
Nicosia |
Limassol |
Larnaca |
Famagusta |
Paphos |
|
2010 |
792 |
263 |
206 |
122 |
83 |
118 |
|
2011 |
625 |
223 |
182 |
73 |
50 |
97 |
|
Inc/Dec '10-'11 % |
-8% |
-3% |
-12% |
-21% |
-9% |
-11% |
|
|
English Articles of the Month
|
Will our Neighbours Misery Help Us? |
27/3/2011 |
 Cyprus
seems to manage its economy on a “free-wheel” basis, without proper
planning, governed by small politics and with numerous other unrelated to
the economy factors, as well as the mammoth civil service which is after
“more and more”, but working “less and less”. Surely this is not a model of
economy management to be followed by others. This particular Government has
“inherited” from the previous one, over €500 mil. excess budget and within
2½ years it managed, by the various handouts and bad management, to end up
with €2 bil. in debt causing the Cyprus economy to be 2 times downgraded. ... Read
Article |
|
|
|
Natura V Money Cost |
20/3/2011 |
 The
Cyprus Government has embarked into the classification of parts of the
island into Natura area, where the land remains as is and no
development/change of any kind is allowed. So the various “wise team” of
planners, pressure groups (including the Green party) and others, suggest
all sorts of areas to be included in such a classification, since they do
not come up with compensation payments to the affected property owners
themselves. Well done and lovely we say.
Read Article |
|
|
|
|
Preparing your Property for Sale |
13/3/2011 |
 During
these difficult times that we are all experiencing, there are numerous
sellers of real estate and very few buyers around. For those individuals who
wish to sell their real estate/home, one should be better prepared than
before, when buyers are knocking at one’s door. For those who wish to sell
their property, we have prepared a short list of “things to do”, prior to
launching the sale which, we hope, might help to sell the property at a
faster rate, or, at least, be better than the competition. Read Article |
|
|
|
Has Nicosia a Future? |
6/3/2011 |
 Nicosia
is the only town in Cyprus which has limited attractions and by projection
development prospects. Not only because it is divided, but it occupies a
dead end location and attracts no tourists, other than day trippers. The
Nicosia property market is based on locals and as such it has a steady
demand and by comparison to other regions, limited ups and downs in terms of
real estate market flactuations. Indicative of the interest is the following
table regarding Nicosia foreign purchases.
Read Article |
|
|
Greek Articles of the Month
|
Αντιπαροχή + Φ.Π.Α. + Κεφαλαιουχικά Κέρδη |
27/2/2011 |
 Υπάρχει
κάποια σύγχυση στο θέμα της αντιπαροχής και κατ’ επέκταση στις απαιτήσεις
από το Φ.Π.Α./Κεφαλαιουχικά Κέρδη/μεταβιβαστικά.
Για επεξηγήσουμε το θέμα υιοθετήσαμε ένα παράδειγμα. Ιδιοκτήτης οικοπέδου
αξίας €1.000.000 διαθέτει το οικόπεδο του σε επιχειρηματία ανάπτυξης με
αντιπαροχή τρία διαμερίσματα όπως περιγράφονται στην συμφωνία της
αντιπαροχής. ...
Read Article |
|
|
|
Το τέρας τολμά να επανέρχεται |
20/2/2011 |
 Υπεβλήθη
σε μια νύκτα νομοσχέδιο για αλλαγή του περί Κτηματομεσιτών νόμου.
Ειδοποιηθήκαμε ως Σύνδεσμος Κτηματομεσιτών/Εκτιμητών από άλλους άμεσα
ενδιαφερόμενους την Παρασκευή, ότι την Δευτέρα θα συζητείτο το θέμα στην
επιτροπή Εσωτερικών. Μετά από αρκετές παρουσιάσεις και συζητήσεις, το
τερατώδες νομοσχέδιο απορρίφθηκε από την Βουλή και έγιναν αρκετές βελτιώσεις
προς την πιο εύρυθμη λειτουργία του νόμου, άνκαι ακόμη χρήζει κάποιων
διευκρινίσεων. Ξαφνικά, την περασμένη εβδομάδα (μετά την πάροδο 6 μηνών από
τον νέο νόμο) και πάλι το Συμβούλιο Εγγραφής επανάφερε τα ίδια θέματα που
απορρίφθηκαν και πάλι χωρίς να ερωτηθούν οι εμπλεκόμενοι και πληροφορηθήκαμε
μέσω του τύπου για ...
Read Article |
|
|
|
Το Παράλογο στο Μεγαλείο του |
13/2/2011 |
 Προσπαθούμε
να καταλάβουμε ορισμένα πράγματα και αποφάσεις αυτής της Πολιτείας.
Διαβάσαμε και την έκθεση της Γενικής Ελέγκτριας για το «τερατώδες» φράγμα
στο Χα-Ποτάμι και ότι οι ιθύνοντες θα πρέπει περίπου να φυλακιστούν για
τέτοιο έγκλημα!! Ο Θεός πλέον να μας βοηθήσει. ...
Read Article |
|
|
|
Δείκτες και Δείκτες Ακινήτων |
6/2/2011 |
 Παρατηρούμε
με μεγάλη ανησυχία και απογοήτευση την αποτυχία στην ετοιμασία ενός Δείκτη
της αγοράς τιμών των ακινήτων. Στην περίοδο αυτή που βιώνουμε με άγνωστες
για τα Κυπριακά Ακίνητα καταστάσεις και πρωτόγνωρη κατιούσα των τιμών από
την μια και την εξαγγελία/έναρξη μεγαλεπήβολων έργων ανάπτυξης από την άλλη,
ο Δείκτης αξιών ακινήτων θα προσέφερε τα μέγιστα τόσο στην οικονομία ως
παρατηρητήριο των τάσεων, όσο και σε τομείς της οικονομίας όπως
χρηματοδότες, ελεγκτικά γραφεία, εκτιμητές και άλλους μελετητές. Και όμως η
προσπάθεια της Κεντρικής Τράπεζας έχει αποτύχει παταγωδώς σε ένα εγχείρημα
που σίγουρα κοστίζει πέραν του €1 εκ. τον χρόνο, τόσο σε υπαλλήλους της
Κεντρικής, όσο και σε υπαλλήλους ...
Read Article |
|
|
Our News
-
The
firm was invited for lunch at Stoa restaurant, organized by the Financial
Times on the 3.3.2011. Numerous economy players were present including MPS
and the Minister of Finance.
-
Antonis Loizou was invited at a cocktail which was given by the Bulgarian
Embassy on the occasion of the country’s national day on the 3.3.2011. The
president of the Republic, Ministers, MPS and ambassadors were all
present.
-
“Nicosia in the Future”. This seminar will be organized by our firm in
collaboration with the Nicosia Municipality and all other Municipalities
of Nicosia. The various Municipalities will submit their plans and
suggestions explaining how Nicosia is expected to develop over the next 10
year period. The seminar is the third in line following a similar one for
Limassol and Larnaca organized by our office. The seminar will take place
on 16.3.2011 at Pallouriotissa old Municipal market (now exhibition hall).
-
A presentation will be given on 14 March, by Mr. Loizou in Hellenic Bank
Headquerters regarding the current situation of the Cyprus Property
Market.
|
|
|
|
