What many in Larnaca were fearing regarding the property market and rental prices has unfortunately started happening, with the risk of serious social problems emerging in the immediate future becoming increasingly apparent.
Already, many couples, as has happened in Limassol, are moving to villages in the province, as prices in the city and its adjacent areas have soared to unprecedented levels, even before major development projects in the city have begun.
Although this is mainly due to the enormous demand, especially from Israelis but also locals, it has provided an opportunity for some aiming for quick profits to push prices to exorbitant levels. For example, a two-bedroom apartment of 85 square meters in Aradippou, which was rented for €500-600 just a few months ago – already a considerable amount – has now skyrocketed to €900. Similar or worse situations are occurring in the rapidly developing areas of Livadia and Oroklini, where rents for two-bedroom apartments with similar characteristics are reaching, in some cases, €1000, while in the city centre and the Mackenzie area, they start from €1,200.
For Larnaca, where a significant percentage of the population belongs to the middle and lower-income groups, these prices are at the very least provocative, and this is why some have started sounding alarm bells. “Some need to comply because, in several cases, Larnaca tends to surpass even Nicosia’s prices. We have exceeded our limits regarding prices, and when you exceed the limits, interest stops, and this brings problems,” Marinos Kineyirou, president of the Real Estate Registration Council, told Phileleftheros in a recent interview.
The unimaginable part is that property prices keep rising, while the cost of construction has decreased, which had risen due to the war in Ukraine. At the same time, incentives are provided to curb these prices, both by the state and the Municipality of Larnaca.
Some have completely lost their sense of measure, and if they do not get serious, the entire city will pay the price, with the first victims being young people and couples who, due to the high cost, cannot cope with monthly expenses, and some are turning to the Social Supermarket. Additionally, if prices are at these levels now, how much higher will they go when the billion-dollar projects in the port and marina, as well as in the former oil refinery area, part of which the Municipality of Larnaca is vying to turn into a university campus, are completed? Will students be able to rent apartments in these areas, including Mackenzie, where the construction of the state School of Marine Sciences, Technology, and Sustainable Development of the Cyprus University of Technology is planned?
The example of Limassol, whose rapid development may have helped the economy but has adversely affected the financially weaker and the students, should already have raised concerns.
