British buyers are snapping up properties in Cyprus in response to one agent’s big discounts. Despite the slump in overseas purchases Cyprus experienced last year, Purple International saw a surge in sales in the second half of 2009. The company is working with three developers to offer discounts of as much as 30% on completed properties across the country.

The scale of the recession’s damage to the overseas property market in Cyprus has been revealed by official figures that show an 84% drop in sales to non-Cypriots since peak.
 
Fewer than 1,800 properties were sold to non-Cypriot buyers during 2009 compared to over 11,200 in 2007, according to data released by the Cyprus Department of Lands and Surveys. The worst hit areas were Famagusta (down 90%), followed by Paphos (-89%), Larnaca (-84%), Limassol (-70%) and Nicosia (-55%).