Tell us about the services offered by Altia and your philosophy as a company.

Although relatively new to the industry, Altia is the fastest growing real estate company in the Cypriot market. It has one of the largest property portfolios in Cyprus offering a wide range of options in residential, investment, commercial and agricultural properties. What makes us stand out from other real estate platforms is that we provide ready to sell properties, with all available documents, through attractive, professional presentations with photos and drone footage. Of course our biggest competitive advantage is our top-notch customer service from our experienced staff, who have expert knowledge of the Cyprus property market.

Buying a property is one of the most important decisions for a buyer. In what ways does your company ensure proper customer service?

Altia offers a wide range of options from different types of properties, satisfying personal and business needs, for every budget. Our goal is always to ensure that our clients find the ideal property, whether it is an investment property, a commercial property or anything that meets their needs. Despite the large volume of properties we own we strive to develop personal yet professional relationships with our clients and partners because our success will certainly depend on it. 

You talked about competitive advantage. What are some of the standards that the company follows that differentiate it from the competition?

Altia is based in Nicosia but at the same time has a local presence in Limassol, Paphos and Larnaca, with a total of 70 real estate professionals – from property valuers, civil engineers, surveyors and surveyors to architects – with many years of experience and a thorough knowledge of the Cypriot real estate market at a local level. 

The team works and covers the whole range of tasks, starting from the personalized property search, all intermediate procedural/legal tasks, up to the sale of the property. Also by using technology, we constantly develop innovative processes (such as virtual tours and drone shots of each property), we use different communication channels and find solutions to ensure the best result taking into account the personalized needs of each client through transparency and professionalism.

What are the trends in the real estate market that you have noticed?

Apartments continue to remain at the top of property buyers’ preferences, with residential properties following. We also see that there is a strong demand for ready-to-go, pre-owned apartments or apartment buildings and condominiums. Despite the increased demand, it is important to highlight the fact that the availability of these properties remains historically low. Demand for Grade A office space is also strong and this creates investment opportunities for Grade B and C office facilities which can be refurbished and converted into Grade A office space. Demand for land for development continues to be strong, particularly for parcels with rates that allow for the construction of three and four storey apartment blocks with flats and there is also very warm interest in land for development with a photovoltaic park. 

Are you concerned about rising property prices and lending rates? Can it affect buyer interest?

One of the biggest challenges in the real estate sector at the moment is rising lending rates and increased construction costs where it will continue to put pressure on households and businesses alike who may postpone or reduce future investment and expansion decisions. However, despite these challenges, the continued improvement in key Cypriot economic data (such as the European Commission’s GDP growth forecasts for 2023 and the ongoing decline in unemployment) highlight Cyprus’ resilience despite the challenges in the real estate sector.        

Do you also address corporate clients, given that in recent years there has been a particularly increased demand mainly from international companies from abroad to set up in Cyprus?

We address everyone. To individuals looking for a residence, to business owners looking for business premises, to investors looking for their next investment opportunity. The truth is that there is an increased interest for foreign companies to set up on our island. Recent figures from Invest Cyprus state that in 2022 there was a 50% increase in the number of foreign companies moving to Cyprus, an 80% increase in the total number of employees and the total contribution to the GDP of the ICT (information and communication technologies) sector in Cyprus amounts to more than €3 billion per year. Fortunately we have many options in all cities that can meet the need for professional accommodation. 

Among other things, you offer buyers the possibility of virtual tours through your website and provide important information such as the number of schools in the area. Are these services a prerequisite you would say anymore for clients in the real estate market? 

We have created a modern, easy to use and user-friendly website where the interested party can easily search and find the property they are interested in and find out any useful information regarding it. He can also tour the property itself through the virtual tour and obtain useful information regarding the technical characteristics, the area, etc. Also, our client can arrange a visit to the property with an Altia representative on the date he/she wishes and also proceed with an offer for the property – all this through the website! We believe that this is the appropriate way to provide services that serve and facilitate every interested party. 

What do you think is the state of the property market in Cyprus and what is the vision for Altia and its further development during the year and in general?

We have experienced another year full of challenges, the ongoing war in Ukraine, the rapid increase in the cost of living and more specifically energy, building materials and raw materials.  But we are pleased to note that despite the challenges, the real estate sector – at least in Cyprus – remains resilient. This is also reflected through the data of the Department of Cadastre and Land Surveying where this year we had the most dynamic real estate market with the most property sales since the year 2008 and we had a historical record in terms of the total amount of sales this year, exceeding €5 billion for the first time. 

The fact that Cyprus continues to be an attractive destination for Ukrainians, Israelis, Lebanese and others has helped a lot. It is worth noting that most of them, apart from buying permanent or second homes, are also involved in real estate investment without borrowing – which helps our sector tremendously. Our assessment is that the performance of the real estate sector for this year will depend a lot on whether Cyprus continues to be an attractive destination for foreign investors as well as for IT/technology companies and on the extent to which lending rates and construction costs increase. Apart from the above, at least in terms of demand and supply dynamics, all the data points to very attractive prospects for the real estate sector at least in the near future.  And as the industry continues to grow, Altia will continue to evolve, further strengthening our human resources as well as our expertise to seamlessly offer the best services to the real estate industy.