Cyprus’s real estate market continued to grow rapidly in the summer of 2026: from January through July, 12,047 real estate purchase and sale agreements were filed with the country’s land registries, a 14% increase compared to the same period last year.
In July, approximately 2,040 contracts were registered, which is about 11% higher than the figure for July 2025. Thus, July became one of the busiest months for the Cypriot real estate market this year. The data is based on statistics from the Department of Land and Geodesy of the Republic of Cyprus.
Demand from foreign buyers continues to play a significant role in the market’s growth.
In July, Cypriot citizens concluded 1,211 transactions, which is 12% more than a year earlier. They accounted for about 59% of the market. Another 829 contracts, or approximately 41%, were concluded by foreign buyers.
Of these, buyers from European Union countries concluded 277 contracts, compared to 274 in July of last year—an increase of just 1%.
Demand from citizens of non-EU countries grew much faster. They concluded 552 transactions, compared to 478 a year earlier—a 15% increase. Thus, more than two-thirds of all July purchases by foreigners were made by citizens of third countries.
In the first seven months of 2026, sales to buyers from countries outside the EU increased by 19% year-over-year, with growth recorded in all five administrative districts under the control of the Republic of Cyprus.
Limassol, Paphos, and Larnaca attract the most foreigners
The geographic distribution of demand among local and foreign buyers differs significantly. Among Cypriots, sales in Limassol grew particularly rapidly—in July, they increased by 39%, to 445 transactions. In Paphos, growth stood at 29%, while domestic demand declined in Larnaca and Famagusta.
Foreign demand is particularly noticeable in coastal areas. In July, non-EU citizens signed 150 contracts in Larnaca, a 42% increase from the previous year. Paphos traditionally remains one of the island’s most foreigner-oriented markets, while Limassol is the largest market for high-end real estate and corporate relocation.
From January through July, foreigners from the EU and third countries together accounted for approximately 41% of all real estate sales in Cyprus.
The Land Registry’s preliminary statistics do not break down the nationalities of foreign buyers by country. However, the Cypriot Ministry of the Interior has previously provided more detailed data on nationalities to Parliament.
According to government statistics for the period from September 2024 to September 2025, the composition of foreign buyers varies significantly by region.
In Limassol, Russian citizens led the way among foreign buyers with 846 purchases, followed by Israelis with 571 and Greek citizens with 261.
In Paphos, British citizens constituted the largest group—890 purchases—followed by Israelis—683—and Russians—327.
In Larnaca, Israeli citizens were particularly active buyers—850 properties—followed by Lebanese—723—and British—302.
In Nicosia, Greek citizens led the way with 403 purchases, followed by Romanian citizens with 112, Russian citizens with 80, and Lebanese citizens with 79. The Ministry of the Interior submitted this data to the Cypriot Parliament, and it was subsequently published by the Cyprus Mail.
Ukrainian citizens are also among the active buyers of Cypriot real estate, although they do not yet rank among the top three groups.
The most detailed breakdown by country, provided by the Cypriot Ministry of the Interior to Parliament in January 2025, covered transactions from 2021 through early 2025.
According to these data, Ukrainians were among the top ten most common nationalities of buyers in four coastal districts—Limassol, Paphos, Larnaca, and Famagusta. In Limassol and Paphos, they were preceded by Russians, British, Israelis, Greeks, Romanians, and Chinese.
As for Nicosia, there is separate data on applications by foreign citizens to purchase real estate in 2024. Ukrainians accounted for 4% of these applications, the same percentage as British citizens. Chinese and Lebanese nationals each accounted for 16%, Russians for 14%, Israelis for 10%, Syrians for 6%, and Egyptians for 5%.
However, it is currently impossible to accurately calculate the number of purchases made specifically by Ukrainians between January and July 2026: the DLS’s monthly public statistics group Ukraine together with all other countries outside the EU.
The municipality of Naro in the Sicilian province of Agrigento has opened applications for the purchase of abandoned houses at the symbolic price of EUR1. The program’s official digital portal began operating in July 2026, while the municipal regulations were approved by the city council on June 4. The program is aimed at restoring vacant properties, preserving the historic center and attracting new residents, entrepreneurs and investors to the town. The municipality does not purchase the buildings or become their owner, but verifies the properties and acts as an intermediary between private owners and potential buyers.
At the time of the launch, two houses are listed in the public catalog. The first property, with an area of about 20 sq. m, is located on Via Vanelle and consists of three rooms. The second house, with an area of 93 sq. m and 5.5 rooms, is located on Via Madonna della Rocca. Both buildings require renovation.
Applications may be submitted by adult citizens of Italy and other countries, including those who do not reside in Italy. The program is also open to companies, associations, foundations, cooperatives and other legal entities. The regulations do not impose any restrictions based on citizenship.
The restored property may be used as a primary residence, second home, tourist accommodation, B&B, artisan workshop, commercial premises or an organization’s office. However, in the allocation of houses, preference will be given to projects involving permanent residence in Naro, the creation of businesses and jobs, and the restoration of the building’s historic elements.
The maximum 30 points are awarded to applicants prepared to move their primary residence to Naro. Commercial, artisan and tourism projects may receive up to 25 points, while using the building as a second home may receive up to 10 points. Additional points are awarded to young couples under 35, families with children, energy-efficient projects and initiatives involving the hiring of local workers.
The symbolic price of EUR1 does not include notary services, registration and cadastral fees, project preparation, obtaining permits or construction work. All costs associated with the purchase and restoration are borne by the new owner.
The winner of the competition must provide a deposit of EUR5,000. It may be arranged in the form of a bank or insurance guarantee. The amount is returned after the work has been completed and verified as compliant with the approved project. If the buyer fails to meet their obligations, they lose the deposit and the right to benefit from the program.
The restoration project must be submitted to the municipality within 12 months after completion of the transaction. Work must begin no later than 12 months after the project is approved and must be fully completed within 36 months from the date of purchase. In the event of technical or other justified circumstances, the buyer may be granted a single extension of up to 12 months.
The restored house may not be sold for at least five years after completion of the work. During the renovation, the owner must also obtain third-party liability insurance. Municipal specialists will inspect the status of the project every six months.
The applicant must select a house from the electronic catalog and specify its assigned unique code. Applicants may submit a simplified application containing basic contact details or immediately provide a complete package describing the intended future use of the property, a preliminary project, a work schedule and the estimated amount of investment.
Submitting an application through the portal does not mean that the applicant will automatically receive the property. The documents and project are reviewed by a municipal technical commission, after which a ranking of applicants is compiled. Preliminary results are published for 15 days to allow for possible comments, while final completion of the transaction takes place after the deposit has been provided.
The official primary source of information is the dedicated portal of the Municipality of Naro and the regulations for the “One Euro Houses” program published there. As of August 6, the portal does not specify a final deadline for applications, while the list of available properties may be expanded after new offers from private owners have been verified.
The total volume of mortgage loans in the banking system as of June 1, 2026, reached 50 billion hryvnia, or about 4% of all loans issued, said Olena Dmitrieva, First Deputy Chair of the Board of Globus Bank, on Wednesday during the analytical panel “Market Analytics for the Construction and Real Estate Sectors for the First Half of 2026,” organized by the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine.
“The real estate market is gradually adapting to the conditions of war, but demand remains highly sensitive to shelling, power outages, and rising construction costs. At the same time, the share of mortgages in the total number of residential purchase and sale transactions still accounts for only about 3%,” noted Olena Dmitrieva.
According to her data, as of June 1, 2026, the total volume of mortgage loans in the banking system reached 50 billion hryvnia, or about 4% of all loans issued. Over the past year, banks’ mortgage portfolios have grown by 35%, while the total loan portfolio increased by approximately 10%.
She also emphasized that approximately 42,000 Ukrainian families currently hold mortgage loans, representing only 0.4% of the total number of households. The share of non-performing loans in this segment stands at 12%, primarily due to older foreign-currency loans.
At the same time, the number of new mortgage loans has not yet returned to pre-war levels. In 2025, banks issued about 77% of the number of loans granted in 2021.
“Mortgage portfolios are indeed growing much faster than the credit market as a whole. However, the main driving force behind this growth remains ‘eOselya.’ Without government support, the scale of mortgage lending would be significantly smaller,” Dmytrieva emphasized.
On average, banks issue about 207 loans per month secured by property rights to apartments in buildings under construction, as well as about 238 loans for the purchase of completed housing from developers. Thanks to these two areas of mortgage lending, construction companies receive about 884 million UAH, or approximately $20 million, each month.
Since the “eOselya” program began, about 28,000 loans have been issued for a total of 49 billion UAH. Currently, it accounts for 93% of all new mortgage loans in Ukraine.
Globus Bank was founded in 2007. As of January 2026, its regional network comprises 34 branches, 29 of which are part of the Power Banking network, enabling operations even during power outages.
Its priority areas of activity include lending for energy-efficient projects, mortgage lending in the primary market, auto loans, and lending to small and medium-sized businesses.
Serhiy Mamedov, Chairman of the Board of Globus Bank, is Vice President of the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine and Vice President of the Association of Ukrainian Banks.
Turkish authorities have begun the process of revoking the citizenship of 687 foreigners who, according to investigators, obtained Turkish passports through fictitious real estate transactions and forged property appraisal reports. The original source of this information was a statement by Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gürlek, published on August 4, 2026. The operation was coordinated by the Organized Crime Investigation Bureau of the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office. Investigative actions took place simultaneously in 16 provinces across the country.
According to the investigation, participants in the scheme purchased relatively inexpensive real estate and then, using forged expert reports, artificially inflated its value to the minimum threshold required to obtain Turkish citizenship. The transactions were accompanied by fictitious bank transfers designed to create the appearance of investment inflows.
As a result, Turkish authorities estimate that the country was deprived of approximately 2.5 billion Turkish lira—or roughly $52 million—that was supposed to have been invested by foreign applicants.
As part of the investigation, arrest warrants were issued for 90 people, and 72 suspects have already been detained. The government has placed seven companies that may have been linked to the scheme under its control. Additionally, 1,045 properties, a hotel in Bodrum, 15 vehicles, a yacht, and funds in ten bank accounts have been seized.
It is important to note that this does not yet involve the automatic and immediate revocation of passports, but rather the initiation of legal proceedings. Citizenship will be revoked once it is confirmed that a specific applicant obtained it based on fraudulent documents or a transaction that did not meet legal requirements.
Turkey’s investment citizenship program has been in effect since 2017. Currently, a foreigner can apply for a Turkish passport by purchasing real estate worth at least $400,000. The property cannot be sold for three years, its value must be verified by an authorized appraisal company, and payment must be made through the banking system. Alternative options include an investment or a bank deposit of at least $500,000.
The Ministry of Justice, the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office, and the Turkish media have not yet disclosed the nationalities of the 687 individuals initially implicated. However, data on previous participants in the investment program and foreign buyers of Turkish real estate allow us to identify groups that potentially used such services more frequently.
Between 2018 and 2021, approximately 19,600 foreigners obtained Turkish citizenship through the investment program. Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Russia were cited as the main countries of origin for applicants, and since 2022, Ukrainian and Russian citizens have significantly increased their purchases of Turkish real estate and have become the most prominent groups of applicants for investment-based citizenship.
According to official statistics from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), in 2025, Russians purchased 3,649 residential properties in Turkey, Iranian citizens purchased 1,878, and Ukrainian citizens purchased 1,541. These three countries ranked first among foreign buyers of Turkish housing. This trend continued in 2026. In June, Russian citizens purchased 381 residential properties, while Ukrainians and Iranians each purchased 170 properties.
Based on this data, it is most likely that among the 687 investors under investigation are citizens of Russia, Iran, and Ukraine, who are simultaneously among the largest real estate buyers and the most active participants in the investment citizenship program. The list of those under investigation may also include individuals from Iraq and Afghanistan who participated in the program in previous years.
Additional risks may arise for the spouses and children of investors if they obtained citizenship as family members of the primary applicant. Turkish authorities have not yet clarified whether such relatives are included in the announced total of 687 people or whether their status will be reviewed automatically or through separate procedures. The investigation will likely lead to stricter scrutiny of appraisal companies, bank transfers, intermediaries, and the sources of funds. For new applicants, this may mean longer processing times and additional requirements, but it does not indicate that the investment citizenship program itself is being shut down.
Following a sharp rise in prices caused by the influx of migrants in 2022–2023, Georgia’s residential real estate market is shifting toward more moderate growth, supported by domestic demand, urbanization, rising incomes, and investment in rental housing. In the second quarter of 2026, the price index for new residential real estate in Tbilisi rose by 4.9% compared to the same period last year and by 0.9% compared to the previous quarter. Compared to the 2020 average, housing prices have risen by 63.8%, the Georgian National Statistics Office reported on July 23.
Apartments in new buildings in Tbilisi have risen in price by 4.8% over the past year, while single-family homes have risen by 5.5%. The highest asking prices remain in the Mtatsminda district, where the median price of new apartments reached 6,730 lari per square meter. This is followed by Vake at 5,914 lari and Krtsanisi at 4,630 lari per square meter.
According to estimates by the investment banking firm Galt & Taggart, the period of 20–40% annual price increases for new construction has come to an end. In the coming years, prices in the primary market may grow by an average of 5–7% annually, reflecting a transition from migration-driven frenzy to more sustainable market development.
In the first quarter of 2026, 10,907 thousand apartment transactions were registered in Tbilisi—16% more than a year earlier. The total value of housing sold increased by 23.1% to $958 million.
Georgian citizens remain the primary buyers of housing in the Georgian capital. According to a Galt & Taggart study for the first quarter of 2026, they accounted for about 70% of sales in developers’ projects.
Among foreign buyers, Israeli citizens were the most active, accounting for 12% of all sales. Russian citizens accounted for about 3%, while buyers from other countries accounted for a combined 14%. The statistics for Tbilisi do not provide a separate figure for Ukrainian citizens.
The Batumi market remains significantly more dependent on foreign investors. In the first quarter of 2026, 4,049 thousand apartments were sold in the city—15.8% more than during the same period last year. The Galt & Taggart study covered more than 30 projects by major developers, accounting for about 40% of Batumi’s primary market. According to the results, Georgian citizens accounted for 37% of sales, while foreigners accounted for about 63%.
The largest foreign group consisted of buyers from European countries, who accounted for about 18% of transactions. Israeli citizens accounted for 16% of sales, while the combined share of buyers from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus totaled 13%.
Turkish citizens purchased another 10% of the apartments, buyers from Arab countries accounted for 3%, and buyers from other countries accounted for about 4%. The data published by the Georgian authorities does not break down the shares of Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, so it is impossible to determine which of these three countries’ citizens were the most active buyers.
The demand structure reveals a significant difference between the country’s two largest markets. In Tbilisi, sales are driven primarily by Georgian buyers purchasing homes for residential use or long-term rental. In Batumi, foreign investors play the leading role, focusing on resort real estate and renting apartments to tourists.
However, official Geostat statistics cover only prices for new housing in Tbilisi and do not provide a complete breakdown of buyers’ nationalities across Georgia. Data on citizenship is based on surveys of major developers such as Galt & Taggart; therefore, it primarily reflects the organized primary market rather than all real estate transactions in the country.
The Ukraine Investment Congress, dedicated to investing in the country’s future, took place on July 30 at the Parkovy Congress and Exhibition Center in Kyiv and brought together over 2,000 representatives from the real estate development, investment, architecture, banking, and government sectors.
According to the organizers, the central theme of the congress was the slogan “Me, You, Society: Investing in the Country’s Future.” Participants discussed the development of the real estate market, the reconstruction of Ukrainian cities, the digitization of government services, investments in domestic tourism, energy independence, and the implementation of accessibility principles in urban planning.
At the same time, the XVII All-Ukrainian Architectural Competition “Interior of the Year 2026” took place at the “Parkovy” Exhibition and Convention Center, during which projects by Ukrainian architects, designers, and development companies were presented.
The congress was attended by Natalia Kozlovska, Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine; Roman Dzhuranuk, Deputy Head of the State Regulatory Service of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformation, and Digitalization; Ihor Reva, Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine for Digital Transformation; Artur Melezhik, Head of the Department of Industrial Parks and Investment Support; and Nazarii Volyanskyi, Director of the Kyiv Region Regional Development Agency.
Among the representatives of the business community and expert circles, the event was attended by Oleksandr Seleznyov, Founder and CEO of Spatium Group; Andriy Vavrysh, Founder and CEO of SAGA Development; Vitaliy Borul, CEO of CREDO Development; Mark Kestelboim, CEO of Well-Being Contech; Pavlo Somov, Founder and CEO of EcoBud Building Group; Serhiy Odarych, founder and CEO of ODA Development; Yuriy Podolchuk, CEO of the Ukrainian BIM Community; Andriy Dligach, founder of Advanter Group; Dmytro Karpilovskyi, co-founder of the UkrInvestClub; and Anna Iskierdo, co-founder and CEO of AIMM.
A separate panel discussion was dedicated to domestic tourism as an investment asset. Participants examined which tourism and recreational projects Ukrainian investors are currently funding and discussed the prospects for the development of hotel, resort, and income-generating real estate.
During the panel discussion “The State on a Smartphone,” representatives from government agencies and the business community discussed the impact of digitalization on reducing bureaucratic procedures, simplifying investor interactions with the state, and increasing the transparency of permitting processes.
As part of the “Battle of Assets 2026–2027” discussion, experts analyzed various capital investment instruments and the prospects for investing in real estate, business, financial assets, and infrastructure projects.
The program also included discussions on accessibility and inclusivity in urban development, the economic efficiency of facade systems, the use of BIM technologies, the energy self-sufficiency of facilities, and new design standards.
Separately, during the congress, the State Regulatory Service held a workshop for over 70 representatives of ministries and government agencies. Participants addressed issues of government regulation, deregulation, permitting procedures, and the creation of a favorable investment environment.
The event concluded with an awards ceremony for the winners of the “Interior of the Year 2026” competition. According to the organizers, the competition is intended to promote the professional selection of architectural and design projects and raise standards in the Ukrainian market.
The Ukraine Investment Congress was organized by the DMNTR media group. The general partner of the event was “Creator-Bud,” the general sponsor was Elio Home, the strategic partner was Viyar Stone, the premium partner was Itum, and the climate partner was Raum Engineering.
Detailed information about the event and a photo report are available on the official website of the Ukraine Investment Congress—www.ibc-ua.info.
Interfax-Ukraine is the information partner.
