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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 now the largest and most comprehensive professional firm of Chartered Surveyors in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean. The firm employs 75 members of staff across 8 offices in Cyprus, Romania, and Russia 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.
More about us
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Issue 4, July 2009
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Cyprus Economy
● The latest
employment data show that over the first quarter of 2009 salaries in Cyprus
increased by an average annualised rate of 7%. The average salary currently
stands at €1,818 per month.
● The reduction in deposit rates since the start of the year by more than 3.0%
has reduced the flow of deposits to local banks. The “liquidity level” in the
system, the difference between deposits and loans, was €1.8bn in May compared to
€1.99bn in April. Last year it stood at €8.5bn.
● The latest report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) points out that the
economic boom of the past decade was based on loose credit rules, which has left
the private sector and households in debt and with a significant exposure to the
property market. The IMF notes that the current capital ratios of the banks are
slightly above the minimum set by the Cyprus Central Bank and proposes that this
is increased to safeguard them from any further in bad debts.
● The IMF also raised the issue of Cyprus’ budget deficit, which is set to
increase over the foreseeable future. With income from taxation considerably
lower and the government increasing its spending on infrastructure projects and
welfare initiatives there is a real danger that the economy will fall into a
prolonged period of consecutive budget deficits which will weaken the economy
even further.
● Eurozone’s annual inflation turned negative for the first time, complicating
the job of the European Central Bank (ECB). Consumer prices in the eurozone in
June were 0.1% lower year on year.
● Credit figures released by the ECB highlighted how the liquidity it has pumped
into the banking system has not yet stopped credit flows to the economy from
being thrown into reverse. Businesses repaid a net €5bn in loans in May, slowing
the annual rate of growth in such loans to just 4.4%. The annual rate of growth
of borrowing by households turned negative, with loans down 0.2% on the year.
Cyprus Property Market
● The Minister of
Interior, Neoklis Silikiotis, announced that under a plan being undertaken by
the Land Registry Department and local Town Planning offices 10,000 title deeds
will be issued by the end of the year and another 10,000 by mid-2010. The total
number of outstanding title deeds is estimated to be circa 120,000.
● The Cyprus Central Bank announced that the average cost of lending for
property acquisition decreased by 0.13% in May month on month to 6.69%. Compared
to one year ago the average cost of lending stands 1.16% higher.
● The IMF’s latest report commented that the Cyprus Central Bank should
reconsider its maximum lending rate for the purchase of second homes and land
given the current state of the property market.
● One in four Cypriots live in apartments, compared to one in two in the rest of
Europe. Of these more than half live in detached houses, compared to one in
three in the rest of Europe.
● The above makes grim reading when one considers that the majority of the
Cyprus property market, particularly along the coastline, is driven by the
acquisition of holiday homes by foreigners (i.e. second homes) and that the bulk
of construction that has taken place over the past five years was apartments for
either foreigners buying off-plan or for locals. |
Global Property
Market
● The UK
economy contracted by 2.4% in the first quarter of 2009, its biggest quarterly
decline in 51 years. Meanwhile, real household disposable income fell by 2.4%
and the savings rate from 4% to 3%.
● UK government spending is set to reach 50% of GDP by 2010/11 and almost 70%
in Northern Ireland and Wales. The growth in government spending is partly a
chicken and egg situation as public spending in some regions is high because
they are doing less well economically, but on the other hand a high public
spending share can impede the revival of the private sector. In comparison,
public spending in Cuba is expected to fall to below 60% of GDP by the end of
the year.
● UK house prices recorded their third rise in four months, according to the
Nationwide House Price Index, suggesting that the troubled housing market may
have stabilised despite the very low turnover in transactions. Average house
prices in June rose by 0.9% month on month.
● Data for May revealed a weaker than expected number of mortgage approvals,
with a total of 43,414 mortgages approved in May compared to 43,191 in April.
● Prices of US single-family homes fell in April but the pace of the decline
moderated, suggesting stability is emerging in some regions. An index of 20
metropolitan areas dipped 0.6% in April bringing the total annual decline to
18.1%. Average home prices have wiped out six years of gains, returning to
levels seen in mid-2003.
● An estimated $300bn is sat 'on the sidelines' waiting to target distressed
US real estate but few investors will ‘jump in’ now when opportunities could
be better in six to 12 months time, according to the latest conference of
private equity investors.
● Most analysts think that there is another leg downward to come. The number
of transactions in recent months has been too thin to be meaningful, the lack
of properties on the market may be supporting prices, and the mortgage famine
has longer to run. Borrowing costs are on the rise and the number of forced
sellers will rise as the redundancy axe falls.
● The global economic renaissance will remain in grave peril until banks and
investors quit morning the end of a long-dead real estate boom and face up to
losses inflicted by years of lending. This wait-and-see attitude is pandemic
because there are too many uncertainties about too many things and is causing
wide spread price deferral that will take some time, maybe even years, to
resolve.
● "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future,” Niels
Bohr, the Nobel-winning physicist, once pointed out.
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Cost of Debt |
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GBP LIBOR |
EURIBOR |
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29/06/2009 |
One year ago |
29/06/2009 |
One year ago |
| 3 month |
1.20% |
5.95% |
1.12% |
4.95% |
| 6 month |
1.42% |
6.16% |
1.33% |
5.13% |
| 12 month |
1.70% |
6.44% |
1.52% |
5.38% |
| 2 year |
2.20% |
6.18% |
1.79% |
5.23% |
| 3 year |
2.89% |
6.13% |
2.26% |
5.16% |
| 5 year |
3.61% |
5.97% |
2.89% |
5.02% |
| 10 year |
4.13% |
5.56% |
3.66% |
4.99% |
| 15 year |
4.40% |
5.31% |
4.04% |
5.06% |
| 30 year |
4.24% |
4.75% |
4.10% |
4.96% |
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Articles
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The title deeds solution |
Antonis Loizou, FRICS 28/06/2009 |
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 We have suggested to the Cyprus Government through the Minister of Interior, a simple procedure in order to clear the path towards securing permits and the property titles speedily. The problem is not as big as it is made out mainly by the English written press, as well as by several pressure groups, but it is big enough to warrant a solution.
Read Article |
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Paralimni on the Move? |
Antonis Loizou, FRICS 10/05/2009 |
 We have studied a most interesting article in the Sunday Times of the 26.4.09, which refers to British who buy permanent/holiday homes abroad in search of a better life. We will report some aspects of this report not so
much to rest our Cypriot market anxieties, but so as not to feel alone in this global situation regarding the real estate market in Cyprus and its attraction to the British market. Far from it, Cyprus, it appears, that by comparison...
Read Article |
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Ρυμοτομία και Απαλλοτρίωση |
Παύλος Λοΐζου, MRICS 30/06/2009 |
 Μέσα
στον κυκεώνα νόμων, κανονισμών, οδηγιών, κτλ οι οποίοι
συσχετίζονται με τα ακίνητα, οι δύο όροι με τους
οποίους σχεδόν όλοι μας ερχόμαστε αντιμέτωποι σε
κάποιο σημείο της καθημερινότητας είναι η
‘ρυμοτομία’ και η
‘απαλλοτρίωση’. Πληθώρα συμπολιτών μας καθημερινά επικοινωνούν με το γραφείο μας, για να ξεκαθαρίσουν την έννοια αυτών των
όρων και το πώς τους επηρεάζουν. Ο πιο κοινός τρόπος με τον οποίο αυτοί οι
όροι έρχονται στην προσοχή μας και αποκτούν σημασία είναι όταν βρίσκονται σε
επιστολές από την κυβέρνηση ή σε αιτήσεις για ανάπτυξη τεμαχίων.
Διαβάστε |
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Our News
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Press Conference: Cyprus Real Estate Index | Fourth Issue | 2008-2009 |
22/04/2009 |
 On
Monday 22 June 2009 Antonis Loizou & Associates presented the 4th issue of
its
Cyprus Real Estate Index.
This annual publication provides detailed information about the local
property market including a breakdown of land and plot prices,
house/apartment prices, retail and commercial rents across Cyprus. It also
provides a high level overview of the past few years and commentary the real
estate market in 2009. Additional sections examine current issues in the
property market, including the legal framework, property tax, the
international crisis and others.
Read
More
Download the Index PDF
(in Greek) |
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In the News
Ο κ. Αντώνης Λοΐζου ήταν φιλοξενούμενος του κ. Μαυρίδη στην εκπομπή του ΡΙΚ-1 "Τηλεοικονομία"
στις 23 Ιουνίου 2009 σε μια συζήτηση για την παρουσίαση του 4ου στη σειρά Δείκτη
Αγοράς Ακινήτων που έγινε από το Γραφείο μας αλλά και άλλων θεμάτων της
οικοδομικής βιομηχανίας της Κύπρου.
Watch Video |
Ο κ. Αντώνης Λοΐζου ήταν φιλοξενούμενος του κ. Μαυρίδη στην εκπομπή του
ΡΙΚ-1 "Τηλεοικονομία".
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The aim of this newsletter is to provide a brief analysis on the current state
of the economy, as well as an indication on the real estate market both locally
and globally. This newsletter should be considered as an advisory one; the aim
is just to provide monthly information regarding the aforementioned issues. Our
newsletter will also provide a list of articles and questions and
answers as well as news and exhibitions of the company.
Newsletter archive:
Issue 1 - April 2009 |
Issue 2 - May 2009 |
Issue 3 - June 2009
Antonis Loizou & Associates
Head Office | 68A Kennedy Avenue | 1076 | Nicosia | Cyprus
Tel: +357 22 477 600 | Fax +357 22 428 681
www.aloizou.com.cy |
www.aloizou.ro |
www.aloizou.ru
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