Cyprus Business News: Propert, Kedipes, AI, CSE, energy

Property sales in Cyprus recorded a double-digit increase at the start of 2026, as transactions rose by 11 per cent year on year in January, according to data released by the department of lands and surveys.

In total, 1,411 properties changed hands during the month, compared with 1,275 in January 2025. This followed a stronger annual increase of 24 per cent in December 2025, after a 9 per cent rise in November.

Within this picture, Paphos recorded the strongest annual growth among the districts, with sales rising by 25 per cent to 318 transactions from 255 a year earlier.

In parallel, the free Famagusta area also posted a notable increase, as sales climbed by 23 per cent to 69 properties from 56 in the corresponding month last year.

Elsewhere, Larnaca continued on a steady upward path, with sales increasing by 11 per cent to 288 units, compared with 259 in January 2025.

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Melbourne-born human-centred AI company HUMRN is moving from early validation into its next phase, with co-founder and chief executive David May setting out why the company is relocating its corporate base and, crucially, why Cyprus has become central to that decision. 

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, May said that, at its core, HUMRN is designed to help people function sustainably in environments where pressure is constant rather than occasional.  

He described the platform as one built to help people “live better, more fulfilled, less stressful lives – closer to their potential more often”, not by reacting to failure, but by intervening earlier. 

As May put it, the world is built on systems that assume people can absorb demand indefinitely. In most cases, he said, support only appears once something breaks, when performance drops, people struggle, or health declines. 

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State-owned asset management company Kedipes owned more than €5 billion in assets at the end of last year, chairman of its board Lambros Papadopoulos said on Tuesday.

He told a press conference that the company’s regular cash inflows amounted to €209 million during the second half of last year, before outlining the firm’s actions over the past few months.

In total, he said, the company’s regular cash inflows over the course of last year amounted to €370.5m, marking a drop of 10.5 per cent compared to the €414m worth of inflows from 2024.

He also said the company saw no inflows from loan portfolio sales from last year.

The company’s operating and asset management expenses fell slightly from €50.4m in the second half of 2024 to €48.8m in the second half of last year, while operating and asset management costs for the whole year amounted to €97.4m – a drop of 8.7 per cent compared to the €106.7m worth of expenses in 2024.

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The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) has announced that it would lift the suspension of trading for shares in Cyprus Trading Corporation Plc following the publication of the company’s long-awaited financial reports.

The move comes after the listed company issued its pending financial information, which included the annual financial report for the year ending December 31, 2024, and the half-yearly report for the period ending June 30, 2025.

As a result of this disclosure, the exchange confirmed the reinstatement of its shares from the surveillance market to the alternative market of the regulated market.

The authorities noted that the specific reasons for which the securities had been transferred to the surveillance market no longer apply under the existing regulatory framework.

The effective date for the lifting of the suspension and the return of the shares to the alternative market will be Tuesday, February 3, 2026.

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Cyprus has retained its position as the leading global hiring hub for online forex brokers despite a broader shift in industry growth towards emerging regions, according to an analysis by marketing and insights hub FYI.

“There has been a clear shift in FX over the past few years. The European online trading market is highly mature, client acquisition has become more challenging, and most real growth is now happening in regions such as MENA, APAC, and LATAM,” Christian Görgen, marketing consultant at FYI.LTD, told the Cyprus Mail.

“As a consequence, Cyprus has often been perceived as losing appeal as a global hub, while growth-oriented brokers increasingly focused on the GCC region and moved strategic roles there,” he added.

“However, when looking at the actual hiring data for Q1/2026, the picture becomes more nuanced,” he said.

Moreover, he explained that “Dubai saw strong momentum throughout 2025 and remains an important growth market, but hiring activity there has begun to normalise”.

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Cyprus and Israel are “very close” to an interstate agreement regarding the Aphrodite natural gas reservoir, the energy minister reiterated on Monday.

Michalis Damianou told CyBC that an Israeli government delegation was expected to visit the island over the next fortnight.

The two sides are currently in talks to close the pending matters, paving the way for the signing of an agreement.

The minister said he is confident the talks could wrap up by the end of March.

The talks and the prospective deal concern how to manage the small part of the Aphrodite gas field that extends into Israel’s Ishai block and concerns quantities of natural gas that may be located within Israeli economic waters.

The process essentially lays out a mechanism for compensating the owners on the Israeli side.

Talks between Cyprus and Israel have been on-and-off for years.

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