Property types we value

How the method changes with the asset

We value the full range of Cyprus property, every report prepared to RICS Valuation — Global Standards on a stated basis of value. What changes between asset classes is not the standard but the evidence: what the valuer inspects, and which method carries the weight.

• Comparable sales. Recorded transactions of similar property, adjusted for date, location, size, condition and title. Dominant wherever a genuine market in the asset exists.
• Investment or income approach. The rent the property produces or could produce, capitalised at a yield taken from investment evidence. Used where property is held for income.
• Residual appraisal. The value of the completed scheme, less the cost, time and risk of delivering it. Used where value sits in what may be built.
• Depreciated replacement cost. The cost of a modern equivalent, depreciated for age and obsolescence, plus the land. For property that rarely trades and produces no measurable rent.

Where more than one method applies we run both and reconcile them. Our valuation services page sets out the purposes these reports are written for.

Apartments and flats

Apartments are the deepest comparable market in Cyprus, so comparable sales dominate almost without exception. The valuer measures covered area and verandas separately, then looks at floor level, orientation and view, the age and finish of the block, parking and storage, lift and common expenses.

Units held under a contract of sale, with no separate title. Many Cyprus apartments have no separate registration yet: the block has not been divided, and the buyer holds a contract of sale deposited at the Land Registry. We value the unit as described in that contract and on the architectural plans, identify the parent parcel, and state plainly that no separate title exists. That is reported as a fact affecting marketability, not buried in the figure.

Houses, villas and maisonettes

Semi-detached and detached houses, villas and maisonettes are valued on comparable sales, but the site matters as much as the structure. The valuer records the registered plot area and its zone, covered area floor by floor, layout, construction quality, age and condition, and whether verandas, roof structures or extensions match what was permitted. Where a plot is generous for its zone, we test the site's redevelopment value against the value of the house on it, and the higher figure governs.

Land: plots, fields and development sites

Building plots and building land. A registered plot with services and legal access is priced on comparable plot sales, adjusted for planning zone, building coefficient, frontage, shape and gradient. Comparable evidence is the primary method here.

Agricultural land and fields. Fields are valued on their agricultural use unless the zone and the evidence support more. The valuer checks physical and legal access, distance from the nearest serviced settlement, water, terrain and cultivation. Remote parcels, and parcels with no registered access to a public road, are valued on evidence from equally remote or landlocked land, not on roadside sales.

Land with development potential, and development sites. Where the value lies in a scheme rather than the ground as it stands, residual appraisal takes over: the completed scheme is valued, then construction cost, professional fees, finance, marketing, contingency and developer's profit are deducted. Land is covered in more depth on our land and plot valuation page.

Offices, shops, showrooms and industrial buildings

Offices. The valuer looks at net internal area, floor, parking ratio, services, common areas and the address. A small owner-occupied suite is normally valued on comparable sales; a let floor or a whole office building on the income approach, from passing and market rent capitalised at a yield from investment sales.

Shops and retail units. Retail value follows frontage, street position, pedestrian flow and the trading pitch far more than floor area, and any change of use is checked. Let units are valued on the income approach; vacant units on comparable rental and capital evidence for the same pitch.

Showrooms. Visibility from a main road, frontage, clear height, forecourt display space and parking drive the figure. The market is thin, so comparable evidence is cross-checked against showroom rents.

Warehouses, workshops and light industrial. The valuer records clear internal height, floor loading, loading doors and lorry access, yard space, three-phase power, the industrial zone and permitted uses. Let property is valued on the income approach; owner-occupied property on comparable sales per square metre of covered area.

Hotels, investment blocks and unfinished buildings

Hotels, tourist accommodation and mixed-use buildings. These are trading assets, so the income approach dominates: the valuer works from the number of keys, the operating licence, occupancy and rate history, and the sustainable net operating profit a competent operator would earn, capitalised at a yield from hotel evidence. Mixed-use buildings are valued part by part — retail below, offices or apartments above — then reconciled as a whole, because the parts often sell separately.

Whole apartment buildings and investment blocks let to tenants. Here the asset is the income stream. We take the tenancy schedule, passing rent, lease terms and arrears, deduct management, maintenance, insurance and a realistic void allowance, and capitalise the net income. That is then checked against the sum of the individual unit values, since a block is often worth less whole than broken up.

Buildings under construction or unfinished. Two figures are usually needed. The as is value reflects the structure in its present state, on the stage of completion recorded at inspection and the cost and time still required. The as if complete value assumes the works finished to the permitted specification, and is expressly a special assumption. We never give the completed figure as the current value.

Shares, specialised property and planning constraints

Undivided shares in a parcel. Where the client owns a share rather than the whole, we value the whole property first, then the share. The two are not always a simple fraction: a minority holding, the absence of an agreed division or exclusive occupation, and co-owners who cannot agree all affect what a share would realise.

Specialised and rarely traded property. Petrol stations, clinics, schools, sports facilities and light manufacturing premises seldom change hands, so comparable evidence is thin or absent. Where no reliable rent exists either, depreciated replacement cost is the honest method: a modern equivalent, depreciated for physical, functional and economic obsolescence, plus the land.

Property affected by planning constraints. Road widening lines, protected or listed status and coastal setback lines cut into what may be built or altered, and the effect is rarely proportionate to the area affected. The valuer identifies the constraint from the cadastral and planning documents, quantifies what it removes from the developable area, and values the property as constrained.

Checked on every property, and where we work

Whatever the asset class, the same work precedes any figure:

• Registration number, sheet and plan, block and parcel, and the registered share.
• Planning zone and building factor, coverage, floors and height.
• Planning and building permits, and whether what is built matches what was permitted.
• Measurement on site of covered and uncovered areas, verandas and outbuildings.
• Access, services and any encumbrance noted against the title.

We work across Limassol, Nicosia, Larnaca, Paphos and the accessible part of the Famagusta district, from the office in Limassol. Travel outside the Limassol district is reflected in the fee, confirmed in writing before work starts — see what a valuation costs.

Instructing us

Tell us the registration number, the district and the purpose. We confirm the scope, the basis of value and the fee in writing before any work begins, inspect and measure the property, and report to RICS Valuation — Global Standards. If you are unsure which asset class your property falls into, send what you hold, or use our contact page.

info@cypruspropertyappraisals.com · +357 25254222 · mobile +357 96569477