The average size of a new house in 2018 was 198 square metres, two square metres smaller than in 2017 and 10 square metres smaller than 2016, Theano Theopoulou reports for Phileleftheros citing the latest figures from the Statistical Service.
In 1995, the average house was 183 square metres. Within a decade it was down to 153 in square metres in 2005 and then rose to 190 square metres in 2015.
During the property bubble which started in 2008, houses were smaller on average – 151 square metres in 2008, 154 square metres in 2009 and 159 square metres in 2010.
The financial crisis of 2013 found Cyprus with the average size for a new house at 194 square metres, falling to 176 square metres a year later.
The arrival of foreign buyers in 2015 who were asking for larger houses led to an increase.
The first housing boom started in 2004 with 11,013 new houses built compared to 8,734 the previous year. In 2005, 16,416 new houses were built, in 2006, 16,647 and in 2007 another 16,501.
During the bubble, houses were built for lower budgets, with a total of 18,195 new houses. The number fell to 16,644 in 2009 and 13,434 in 2010.
This was followed by a drop – 9,091 new houses in 2011, 6,565 in 2012 and 3,833 in 2013. Numbers fell further in 2014 (2,718), and 2015 (2,390). Figures show 2570 new houses built in 2016, 2993 in 2017 and 3866 in 2018.
The average cost per square metre for new houses built by the private sector shows a steady increase. In 2018 it was €1,014 and in 2017 it was €1.035. When the bubble started in 2008 it was €808, rising to €842 in 2009 and to €869 in 2010. In 2011 the average cost per square metre was €899 and in 2012 it was €929. In 2013 it was €949, in 2014 it rise to €960 and again in 2015 to €976 and in 2016 to €993.
