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WiRE FS, presents for the first time a new Index for the prices and rental costs of properties.

Created retrospectively from Q4 2009, the Index records the quarterly change in prices and rents for all types of properties by district: apartments, houses, retail, offices, holiday apartments and holiday houses. In total, it records the prices and rents for 54 areas and sub-areas and presents the collective data for each district and type of property.

The latest data processed by WiRE concern Q1 2021. Following the same trend as the corresponding months of 2020, the first months of 2021 were greatly affected by the coronavirus pandemic and the relevant restrictions, recording a drop in the prices across all property categories. Rents also recorded a drop in most categories.

Apartment prices fell by 0.5% in Q1 2021, compared to Q1 2020, commercial properties (retail) by 5.3%, warehouses by 4.5%, offices spaces by 1.0%, holiday apartments by 1.2% and holiday houses by 3.2%. House prices increased by 1.5%.

Pavlos Loizou, Managing Director of WiRE FS explains that the relatively big drop observed in warehouse prices is likely to be temporary, since there has been a recent increase in demand from companies engaged in logistics, as well as other companies that have expanded their online sales channels. “We also expect the prices for holiday properties to recover soon; as the pandemic comes under control, demand for these properties will progressively increase from foreign buyers who find it difficult to visit the island now,” he says. It seems that it will be more difficult for the prices of commercial properties (retail) to return back to positive levels. The market needs more time to recover as consumers are going through a period of redefining their purchasing priorities, lifestyle and the way they shop, Loizou adds.  

For rentals, on an annual basis, prices dropped for apartments (-0.6%), commercial shops (-6.4%), offices (-3.2%) and holiday houses (-5.4%). In contrast, there was a slight increase in the rental prices for houses (2.6%), warehouses (0.7%) and holiday apartments (0.1%).

“The findings are relatively expected due to the conditions of financial instability. The slight increase in house rentals is probably caused by the fact that tenants, after a year of restrictions, are more willing to rent houses with outdoor space rather than apartments. It is noted, though, that it is difficult to foresee the full effects of the pandemic, since only a relatively short period of time has passed,” Loizou explains.

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