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www.opp-connect.com | DEC 2012/JAN 2013 www.opp.org.uk | XXXX 2012 What do you think?


Tell us what you think about the latest news and what you would like discussed by joining our LinkedIn group, tweeting us @oppnews, emailing john.howell@opp-connect.com or writing us a good old- fashioned letter...


Many who buy property in Cyprus don’t transfer title – and it’s for good reason Dear Mr Wiggins,


I read John Howell’s article on pages 54 and 55 in the October 2012 issue of your magazine with some interest – particularly when he writes about ‘The Title Deed Problem’. Mr Howell writes: “Surprisingly, even when the titles are ready to issue developers say that up


to 50% of their buyers choose not to take the title to their properties. The sales contract they have registered gives them some protection (and even allows them to transfer the ownership of house) and by not taking the title they avoid having to pay the transfer tax of up to 8%. All in all, therefore, this unissued title list is not a very helpful tool when it


comes to seeing whether there is a problem over title in Cyprus.” However, Mr Howell fails to identify why up to 50% of those who have bought


property fail to transfer title. I refer you to an article written by Andreas D. Symeou at Thousands of Title


Deeds waiting to be transferred. (Mr Symiou is a former senior offi cial with the Department of Lands and Surveys in Nicosia and the architect of the ‘Town Planning Amnesty’ introduced in 2011). As you will see, Mr Symiou gives the reasons for not taking Title Deeds as: a) The new title is still burdened with mortgages and/or other impediments which the developer has failed to remove; b) The developer has not cleared his tax commitments; c) The purchaser has not paid the whole purchase amount; the purchaser is not available, as e.g. he has left Cyprus since the date of sale, or; d) The purchaser has resold or intends to resell the property. (If you or Mr Howell wish to contact Mr Symiou on this matter for a further explanation, his email address is sym.andr@cytanet.com.cy). As a result of the collapse of the property market, developers are receiving


Best of the Blogs What’s happening in Ireland?


By Colin Murphy (www.torcana.com) There has been a sharp rise in demand for Irish real estate from national and international home buyers in recent months. According to the latest Daft. ie Irish real estate report, the price of a home in Ireland has declined by an average of 53% since the peak of the market in 2007. But with house building levels having come to a virtual halt, much of


Ireland’s housing glut has now been absorbed by purchasers, particularly in urban areas. The latest data from the Irish Revenue Commissioners show property


transactions are up 20% since 2010, with Dublin city leading the way. There are now fewer houses for sale in Dublin than at any time in the last


5 years - just 6500 secondhand homes and 4679 new homes, according to a Department of Environment study last year. New completions in 2012 are likely to be less than 1500 units, down from an


eye watering 2006 peak of almost 20,000 units. Dublin Property Supply Ireland is a small country and Dublin is a relatively small capital city, so the supply and demand math is very simple for property investors. There were just over 11,000 homes available to purchase in 2011 with another 1500 to be added in 2012. Housing demand in Dublin is predicted to be 21,000 units during the next three years. That is a supply shortage. The fact that there are large numbers of unoccupied and unwanted properties in other parts of the country is largely irrelevant to the Dublin


property market. The recovery in the capital city is several years ahead of the rest of Ireland. Just like Florida, the real estate recovery has already taken root in parts of


Ireland, particularly central Dublin. All of the Irish professionals selling the types of properties I´m seeking have been doing brisk business this year. Earlier this month, the head of a well known Irish real estate receiver told


me over coff ee that he has increased staff from seven to 60 in the past four years. The main business of the department used to be winding down small businesses. Now it’s managing enormous property portfolios on behalf of banks. He is a


very busy man. The main auction houses, and Allsop in particular, are increasing the


frequency of their events and selling 95% of their stock every time. Average selling prices are as much as 25% above the minimum guidelines. Large overseas funds and high net worth investors are competing against each other for apartment blocks in Dublin city. German and UK funds, which are used to managing large numbers of properties at relatively modest yields, are particularly active right now. If you didn´t look very closely, you might not notice any of this about the


Irish real estate market. Certainly nobody is boasting about Irish property anymore – that would be a little undignifi ed in today´s tough economic climate. Nonetheless, the data doesn´t lie and Irish sellers of the right kinds of property are (a) selling at modest yields and (b) busier than ever. [Read the full blog at http://info.torcana.com/torcana-investment-news or email colin.murphy@torcana.com for more information]


little income from sales and, as a consequence, are unable to service their loans; a number of property development companies have already gone into receivership as a result of unpaid debts. Although many buyers have paid for their homes in full and are desperate to


get title, they are not prepared (quite rightly) or have no money to repay their developer’s debts.


Yours sincerely, Nigel Howarth


Problems with title? | Why Cypriot buyers don’t go for the transfer


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