Small rise in new home starts in Cyprus. Is now a good time to buy?

There was a small rise in the number of building permits authorised for building new homes in October 2020 compared to the same month in the previous year according to official statistics published on Wednesday.
During October 2020 a total of 583 building permits were authorised by the municipal authorities and the district administration offices. The total value of these permits reached €279.4 million and their total area 239.3 thousand square metres.
The 583 permits were authorised for:
Residential buildings – 416
Community residences – 1
Non-residential buildings – 86
Civil engineering projects – 27
Division of plots of land – 43
Road construction – 10

Building permits for new homes
The 416 residential building permits authorised provided for the construction of 903 new homes. These comprised 227 single homes; a fall of 5% compared to the 327 authorised in the same period last year – and 676 multiple housing units including apartments, semis, townhouses and other residential complexes; an increase of 33.9% compared to the 505 authorised in October 2019.
Of those 903 new homes, 459 are destined for Limassol, 245 for Nicosia, 99 for Larnaca, 86 for Paphos and 14 for Famagusta.
Annual construction figures
A total of 5,689 building permits were authorised during the first ten months of 2020; a fall of 3.0% compared to 5,894 authorised during the same period in 2019. Their total area fell by 9.8%, their total value fell by 24.3%, while the number of new homes increased by 1.3%.

New home construction
The 4,118 residential building permits authorised during the period January to October 2020 provided for the construction of 7,709 new homes; 2,714 in Limassol, 2,707 in Nicosia, 970 in Larnaca, 847 in Paphos and 471 in Famagusta.
While Famagusta, Nicosia and have seen an increase in the number of new homes, numbers have fallen in the Limassol and Paphos.
According to the Cyprus Statistical Service, building permits constitute a leading indicator of future activity in the construction sector.