Cyprus’ outdated property law allows nationals of third countries to acquire real estate, even as individuals, with little oversight, according to a recent response from the Interior Ministry to parliament.

The ministry confirmed that foreign buyers can file a transfer deed at the land registry office and proceed to exploit a property, such as an apartment or residence, without the need to conclude a sale contract or obtain prior permission from the district governor.  

“The transfer documents are equated with the purchase and sale documents for the purposes of implementing the Immovable Property Acquisition (Aliens) Law (Cap. 109),” the ministry said.  

It added that a permit from the district governor is required when the transfer is processed in the buyer’s name, but “is not a prerequisite” for filing the deed at the land registry.

Cyprus has received more than 560 applications under its new affordable housing schemes since their launch last year, with officials saying the early response from both households and developers points to growing demand.

Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou, replying to parliamentary questions from Akel’s Marina Nikolaou and Edek’s Andreas Apostolou, said 525 submissions were made under the housing grant for young people and couples up to 41 years old.  

Of these, 152 were approved, unlocking about €5.4 million in aid, 172 were rejected, one was withdrawn and 200 are still under examination.  

Another 43 applications were filed under the Renovate-to-Rent scheme, with 28 approved for funding of €727,000, six pending and nine rejected. 

Ioannou said the measures are intended not only to help individual families but also to ease pressure in the housing market.  

The aim, he noted, is to increase the overall stock of homes, bringing supply closer to demand and gradually easing both purchase prices and rents.

Cyprus’ tourism sector is performing strongly this season, according to Cyprus Hoteliers Association (Pasyxe) director general Christos Angelides.

Speaking to business outlet Economy Today, Angelides said the steady rise in arrivals is creating the basis for long-term planning, with Cypriot hotels aiming to extend the summer season into November.

However, he argued that for the season to stretch, hotels must take the risk of staying open and local communities must also keep restaurants and shops operating to avoid the impression of “dead cities” despite good weather.

Extending the season would carry multiple benefits, he noted. The government would save on unemployment payments, revenues would rise, and tourism would become more attractive to younger people.

“They will be able to work 12 months instead of 7,” Angelides said, adding that this would help build stable careers in the sector.

Cyprus recorded the lowest inflation rate in the European Union in July 2025, figures by both Eurostat and the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) showed on Wednesday.

Specifically, the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) in Cyprus rose by just 0.1 per cent during this time, when compared to the same month in 2024.

In addition, on a monthly basis, prices increased by 0.4 per cent between June and July of this year.

Compared to July 2024, the largest increases were seen in the categories of restaurants and hotels, which rose by 5.9 per cent, and recreation and culture, which climbed by 4.2 per cent.

The steepest decreases were observed in clothing and footwear, which fell by 7.1 per cent, and housing, water, electricity, and gas, which dropped by 4.4 per cent.

A wide-ranging survey on visitor satisfaction is currently being carried out in Paphos, with the aim of identifying areas of improvement.

The initiative is organised by the Paphos regional tourism board (Etap), the American University of Beirut – Mediterraneo, and local hoteliers.

The project, which started in July, initially covers the periods July–August and September–December 2025, before extending across a full year until June 2026.

The survey is part of continuous efforts to improve the quality of services, better understand visitor needs and enhance the district’s competitiveness.

Data collection is taking place in selected hotels, tourist accommodations and villas across all municipalities, using standardised questionnaires in digital or printable form.

Cyprus is making impactful progress in developing a high-performance computing, chip and quantum cluster, following a recent meeting between Chief Scientist Demetris Skourides and Phystech Technologies founder and CEO Yuri Komarov, together with head of operations Maria Ocheretina.

Phystech, a Cyprus-headquartered research and development company, focuses on IP cores and blocks for microprocessors, microcontrollers and other digital technologies.

During the talks, the company highlighted the success of its engineering team in creating a digital technology capable of generating cryptographically secure and statistically perfect true random numbers at ultra-fast speeds.

Its first commercial product, an advanced true random number generator (TRNG), can be applied across sectors such as supercomputing, banking, cybersecurity, telecommunications and IoT.

According to the company, this opens new opportunities for Cyprus in research, innovation and the design of high-performance computing, CPUs and Edge AI, while also creating skilled jobs.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) on Wednesday announced that trading of the 13-week government bonds, 5th issuance of 2025, with the code TB13E25, will be suspended.

Trading will be halted from August 26, 2025, until August 28, 2025, inclusive, to allow for the settlement of all transactions, the exchange said.

“The suspension is necessary until all transactions are cleared ahead of the delisting,” the CSE explained in its announcement.

The bonds are scheduled to be delisted from both the Cyprus Stock Exchange and the Central Registry on August 29, 2025, it added.

The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Cyprus has expressed concern over the country’s ranking of 56th out of 167 nations and last in the European Union in the 2025 Sustainable Development Report (SDR), published earlier this summer.

The report gave Cyprus an overall score of 73.8, only slightly improved compared to 72.9 in 2024.

In its statement, the network said that the new report introduces the simplified SDG Index (SDGi), based on 17 key indicators.

It stated that since 2015, Cyprus has improved by 4.3 percentage points, compared with 5.1 for the European average.

Earlier this year, in the European Sustainable Development Report 2025 (ESDR), Cyprus ranked 32nd out of 34 countries, with a score of 62.7.