Cyprus house prices stall as EU housing costs continue to climb

Cyprus house prices edged higher year-on-year but fell on a quarterly basis in the third quarter of 2025, reflecting a cooling domestic market even as housing costs across the European Union continued to rise, according to the latest data from both Eurostat and Cystat.

In Cyprus, the House Price Index for the third quarter of 2025 stood at 146.86 units, based on 2015 as the reference year, according to a preliminary estimate by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

Compared with the second quarter of 2025, house prices in Cyprus declined by 0.3 per cent, while on an annual basis they increased marginally by 0.1 per cent.

This modest annual rise came after stronger increases earlier in the year, with Cyprus recording 4.5 per cent year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2025 and 2.7 per cent in the second quarter.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, prices in Cyprus fell for a second consecutive quarter, following a 1.9 per cent decline in the second quarter, after a 4 per cent increase in the first quarter of 2025.

Eurostat data show that, at EU level, house prices rose by 5.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2025 compared with the same period of 2024, while prices in the euro area increased by 5.1 per cent.

Compared with the second quarter of 2025, house prices increased by 1.6 per cent in both the EU and the euro area during the third quarter.

Across the EU, only Finland recorded an annual fall in house prices in the third quarter of 2025, with a decrease of 3.1 per cent, while Hungary, Portugal and Bulgaria posted the highest increases at 21.1 per cent, 17.7 per cent and 15.4 per cent respectively.

Quarterly data showed price declines in five member states, with the sharpest drops in Luxembourg, Finland and Slovenia, while the strongest quarterly increases were recorded in Latvia, Slovakia and Portugal.

Eurostat also highlighted the longer-term divergence between housing costs and rents across the EU, with house prices and rents moving broadly in tandem until 2011 before following different paths.

Between 2015 and the third quarter of 2025, house prices in the EU increased by 63.6 per cent, while rents rose by 21.1 per cent over the same period.

Over this decade-long period, house prices rose more than rents in 25 EU countries, with prices more than tripling in Hungary and more than doubling in Portugal, Lithuania and Bulgaria, while Finland was the only country to record a decline.

Rents increased in all 27 EU member states, with the steepest rises again seen in Hungary, followed by Lithuania, Slovenia, Poland and Ireland.

For Cyprus, Eurostat’s house price index data show relatively stable but elevated levels over the past year, with the index standing at 146.76 in the third quarter of 2024, easing to 144.20 in the fourth quarter, rising to 150.04 in the first quarter of 2025, slipping to 147.24 in the second quarter, and settling at 146.86 in the third quarter.

Rental costs in Cyprus have followed a steady upward trend, according to Eurostat’s annual average index for actual rentals for housing.

The rental index rose from 100.25 in 2017 to 124.94 in 2024, reflecting sustained increases in housing-related living costs.

Monthly data for 2024 show that rental prices in Cyprus continued to climb through the first half of the year, rising from 122.30 in January to 125.15 in June.

Alongside housing prices, construction activity in Cyprus remained on an upward trajectory during the third quarter of 2025, according to a separate Cystat release.

The Index of Production in Construction reached 125.93 units in the third quarter of 2025, based on 2021 as the reference year, recording an annual increase of 4.2 per cent.

The Output Prices Index in Construction stood at 125.03 units, falling by 1.0 per cent compared with the second quarter of 2025 but rising by 3.7 per cent year on year.

Over the period January-September 2025, both construction indicators recorded increases compared with the same period of 2024, with production rising by 4.2 per cent and output prices by 4.5 per cent.

Taken together, the data point to a slowing housing market in Cyprus, with prices broadly stabilising, even as construction activity and rental costs continue to rise and housing pressures persist across the wider EU.