About valuations
What kinds of valuations do you provide?
We provide Red Book market valuations of property in Cyprus for lending, sale and purchase, taxation, inheritance and estate administration, matrimonial and partnership disputes, company accounts, insurance reinstatement and litigation. That covers apartments, houses, plots, agricultural land, shops, offices, warehouses, hotels and mixed-use buildings, together with development appraisals where the value depends on what can be built rather than on what stands there now. Every instruction is carried out under written terms of engagement that name the purpose, because the purpose determines the basis of value and the form of the report. A valuation prepared for one purpose should not be reused for another.
What is a Red Book valuation?
A Red Book valuation is one prepared in compliance with RICS Valuation – Global Standards, the professional standards published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The current edition was published in December 2024 and took effect on 31 January 2025; there is no 2026 edition. RICS also publishes a Cyprus National Supplement covering local law and practice. The Red Book prescribes how the valuer is appointed, what must be agreed in writing beforehand, which bases of value may be used, what investigations are required, and what the report must contain and disclose. The Central Bank of Cyprus Credit Granting and Review Processes Directive names the Red Book as a recognised standard, alongside European Valuation Standards and IVS.
What is RICS and what does MRICS mean?
RICS is the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the international professional body for surveyors and valuers. MRICS means Member of RICS: a chartered surveyor who has met the Institution's education, experience and assessment requirements and is bound by its rules of conduct, its valuation standards and its complaints and disciplinary procedures. Michael Efstathiou is MRICS and has practised as a valuer in Cyprus since 2012. For a lender, the designation matters because the Red Book is written and enforced by RICS, and because it signals that the valuer is answerable to a professional body if the work falls short.
What is ETEK and why does it matter?
ETEK is the Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber. Registration with ETEK is the legal precondition to valuing property in Cyprus — it is what makes the valuation lawfully given, not merely well written. RICS membership is a professional qualification recognised internationally; ETEK registration is the domestic licence. A valuer working in Cyprus should hold both, and you are entitled to ask for confirmation of each before you instruct. Michael Efstathiou is registered with ETEK and is a member of RICS. Banks check this at the point of admitting a valuer to their approved panel and reassess it on an ongoing basis.
What is the difference between a valuation and an estate agent's appraisal?
A valuation is a professional opinion of value prepared to a defined standard by a regulated valuer, on a stated basis, at a stated date, on stated assumptions, with the evidence set out and the valuer accepting liability for it. An estate agent's appraisal is a marketing opinion of what the property might achieve, given free, usually in the hope of winning the instruction to sell. Both can be useful. Only one is acceptable to a bank, a court or the Tax Department. An agent has an interest in the number; a valuer must disclose any interest and any connection to buyer or seller before engagement.
Do you inspect the property in person?
Yes. A physical inspection is a standard part of our work: we measure the property, check its condition and construction, and verify what is built against the approved drawings and permits. The extent of the inspection is agreed in writing in the terms of engagement, as VPS 1 requires, and is stated in the report. Where a client asks for a desktop assessment without inspection, that is possible for some purposes, but the restriction and its effect on reliability must be recorded in the report — and most lenders will not accept it.
Is the Land Registry's General Valuation the same as market value?
No. The Land Registry's General Valuation (Γενική Εκτίμηση), at base date 1 January 2021, is a mass-appraisal figure produced for tax purposes only. The Department of Lands and Surveys states expressly that it cannot be used for sales, investment or borrowing. It is generated by model, not by inspection: it does not know the condition of your property, its finishes, its outlook, its floor level or what the flat next door actually sold for, and its base date is now years old. Treat it as a tax reference number, not a value. Where you need a figure for a sale, a loan, a court or a transaction, you need an individual valuation.
Do I need a valuation to sell my property?
Not as a legal requirement, but it is usually worth having one. A valuation gives you a defensible asking price, evidence to hold in negotiation, and an early view of any title, permit or unauthorised-works problem that would otherwise surface after a buyer's lawyer finds it. It also matters at transfer: the Director of Lands and Surveys may substitute his own valuation where the declared price does not represent real market value, which affects transfer fees. And if you have a capital gains liability, you will need proper figures anyway. The market is moving — nationally, sales contracts from January to July 2026 reached 12,047, up 14%, with Limassol at 3,959, up 20%.
Cost and timing
How much does a valuation cost?
For a straightforward residential property our fee follows the indicative scale published by the Cyprus valuers' association: €300 up to €250,000; €300 plus 0.1% of the amount between €250,001 and €1,000,000; €1,050 plus 0.075% of the amount between €1,000,001 and €5,000,000, and so on. All figures exclude VAT. A €400,000 apartment therefore works out at €450 plus VAT. The scale is indicative and recommended, not a mandatory minimum. Multiple properties in different locations are charged as separate valuations, a surcharge may apply where extended research is needed, and court work and complex developments are quoted by agreement. Full worked examples and a calculator are on our fees page.
How long does a valuation take?
A standard valuation is delivered within up to 10 working days of instruction. The timetable after that is controlled by: how quickly access to the property can be arranged, whether the title and permit documents are supplied at the outset or have to be retrieved, and how complex the title is. Cases with undivided shares, missing final approval certificates or divergence between what is built and what was permitted take materially longer.
What documents do I need to provide?
Have these ready and the job moves quickly: the title deed, or the contract of sale and its Land Registry deposit receipt where no separate title has issued; the cadastral plan and site plan; the planning permit and the building permit; the approved architectural drawings and floor plans; the certificate of final approval where one has been issued; and, on a purchase, the contract of sale. For units in a development, add any division permit and the share allocation. If a document does not exist, tell us — a valuation can proceed on a clearly stated assumption, but it cannot proceed on an unstated guess.
For banks and lenders
Why does the bank need a valuation at all?
Because the Central Bank of Cyprus Credit Granting and Review Processes Directive requires it. A credit institution must maintain a properly approved panel of independent valuers with documented selection criteria and ongoing performance assessment, verify annually that each panel valuer holds adequate and valid professional indemnity insurance, have the property valued by an independent valuer from that panel, and require the valuer to disclose any connection to buyer or seller and any interest in the valuation before engagement. Loan-to-value is then monitored under Article 208 of Regulation (EU) 575/2013. In practice a valuation is a mandatory step in a Cyprus mortgage and revaluations may be required periodically over the life of the loan.
Who pays for the valuation when a bank is involved?
In practice the borrower pays, even though the report is addressed to the bank and the bank is the party entitled to rely on it. That arrangement is normal and it does not compromise independence: the valuer's duty runs to the addressee named in the terms of engagement, and any connection to buyer or seller and any interest in the valuation must be disclosed before engagement under the Central Bank directive. Paying the fee does not entitle you to influence the figure, and no competent valuer will accept an instruction on that basis. You are, of course, entitled to see the report and to point out factual errors in it.
Can I choose which valuer the bank uses?
Normally, no. The bank instructs a valuer from its own approved panel and sends the request directly; it will not accept a valuer nominated by the borrower. That is by design — under the Central Bank of Cyprus directive the valuation must be independent of the parties to the transaction, and a valuer chosen by the person seeking the loan does not meet that test. You will usually pay the fee even though you did not choose the valuer and the report is addressed to the bank. What you can do instead is commission your own valuation before you apply, so you know the likely figure before it becomes a problem, and commission an independent report if you want to challenge a bank valuation you believe is wrong.
Can I use my valuation with more than one bank?
Usually not, without arrangement. A Red Book report is addressed to a named client for a stated purpose, and only the addressee may rely on it; another lender has no contractual relationship with the valuer and will normally decline it. Banks also lend only against valuers on their own approved panel, and panel membership differs between institutions. Where the second lender is willing, reliance can sometimes be extended by agreement, in writing, on the same or amended terms. Tell us at the outset if more than one lender is in play — it is far easier to address a report correctly than to reassign it afterwards.
What is the loan based on — the price or the valuation?
In practice, the lower of the two. If you agree a price of €400,000 and the property values at €370,000, the bank's lending calculation runs on €370,000 and the €30,000 difference is not financed. You would need to renegotiate, increase your deposit or withdraw. This is why we recommend commissioning the valuation before you are contractually committed rather than after. It is also why a low valuation is worth reading carefully: check the areas, the registration details, the assumptions, the valuation date and the comparables used, because factual error is the most common cause.
Tax, inheritance and court
Can I use a valuation for the Tax Department?
Yes. Valuations are routinely prepared for capital gains tax computations, for estate matters and for other dealings with the Tax Department, provided the report states that purpose and is prepared on the correct basis and at the correct date. The date matters more than clients expect: a CGT computation may need a value at the date of disposal, at the date of acquisition, or at 1 January 1980, and these are different exercises. Tell us the purpose when you instruct us so the terms of engagement, the basis of value and the valuation date are right from the start. Reusing a lending valuation for a tax purpose is not sound.
What is a 1 January 1980 value and why do I need one?
Cyprus capital gains tax is charged at 20%, and gains are computed only from 1 January 1980. For any property acquired before that date, the starting point for the computation is its market value on 1 January 1980, not what was paid for it. Establishing that figure is a retrospective valuation based on evidence of the 1980 market, and it is specialist work. Costs are then indexed for inflation using the Cyprus CPI. From 1 January 2026 the lifetime exemptions are €150,000 for a principal private residence subject to a five-year occupancy condition, €50,000 for agricultural land disposed of by a farmer and €30,000 for any other disposal, with an overall lifetime cap of €150,000.
Do I need a valuation for an inheritance in Cyprus?
Cyprus has no inheritance tax — estate duty was abolished from 1 January 2000 — but a valuation is still commonly needed. Under Law 78(I)/2000 the executor or administrator must file a statement of the deceased's assets with the Tax Department within six months of death, using forms T.F.701, then T.F.78 and T.F.2101. That statement requires a figure for each property. Beyond the filing, heirs usually need an independent value to divide an estate fairly, to agree who takes what, or to price one beneficiary buying out another. We prepare valuations at the date of death for exactly this purpose.
Do you act as an expert witness in court?
Yes. We prepare valuation reports and expert evidence for law firms in civil, family and administrative proceedings across Cyprus — see expert witness valuations. Court work is quoted separately: the valuers' association scale excludes court cases, which are quoted separately by agreement, because the deliverable is a report written to withstand cross-examination and the time commitment cannot be estimated from the property value alone.
About us
Do you cover the whole island?
Yes. Cyprus Property Appraisals is based in Limassol and accepts instructions across Cyprus. There is no separate branch network and no subcontracting of the valuation itself: the same valuer who inspects the property writes and signs the report. For properties at a distance, the fee reflects the additional travel where relevant, and this is set out in the written terms of engagement before any work begins so there is no adjustment afterwards. Where an instruction covers several properties in different locations, each is charged as a separate valuation under the association's scale, though inspections are combined where geography allows.
What areas of Cyprus do you cover?
We work across the Limassol, Paphos, Larnaca, Nicosia and Famagusta districts, in urban, coastal, village and agricultural locations. Limassol is our home market and the one we know street by street — the district recorded 3,959 sales contracts between January and July 2026, up 20% year on year, with apartment prices up 10.7% in Q1 2026. Local knowledge matters most where comparable evidence is thin: rural land, one-off houses, and buildings with an unusual planning history. If you are unsure whether a location or property type is within our scope, ask before you instruct and we will tell you plainly.
Do you work in English and Greek?
Yes. Reports are prepared in Greek or English, as the instruction requires. Language is worth settling early, because a report addressed to a Cyprus bank, a foreign lender and an overseas client's advisers may need to work for all three, and retrospective translation of a signed valuation report is neither cheap nor ideal.
How do I instruct you?
Send the property address and, if you have them, the registration and parcel details, and tell us the purpose of the valuation and who will rely on it. We will confirm the fee and issue written terms of engagement covering the valuer responsible, the client, the asset, the valuation date, the purpose and intended use, the basis of value, the assumptions, the extent of the inspection, the reporting format, the statement of compliance and the fee. Under VPS 1 these must be agreed in writing before any valuation advice is given. Once they are signed, we arrange access and proceed.
Ask us a question, or send the address and purpose and we will come back with a written fee and terms of engagement.
info@cypruspropertyappraisals.com · +357 25254222 · mobile +357 96569477 11 Jean Sibelius Street, Limassol 3017, Cyprus
Tell us the property and the purpose.
We confirm in writing what the report will contain and what it will cost, before any work begins.