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Recent: Crystal Lagoon

Southern Cyprus is shaping up to be one of the most popular retirement and investment hotspots of the next 10 years. Why?

Unlike many of the other lifestyle investment hotspots of the moment, Cyprus offers investors strong drivers for growth . Drivers include:

• Attractive Finance: High loan to value, low interest rate long term mortgages have only recently become available, creating affordability and hence more competition for prime properties.
• Becoming a member of the EU has led to political, legal, economic and currency stability.
• Property on the East side of the island is typically 25-30% less expensive than the West side - yet has better beaches and is more family oriented. This could change with golf courses opening, and a new International Airport.
• Tourism has been growing at 30% per annum, and with the baby boomer generation now reaching retirement age, growth should be sustainable.
• There is a strong British influence in administration, law and culture making it both a safe, and easy, place to buy.
• Crime in Cyprus is almost unheard of, making it one of the safest investment and holiday destinations World-Wide - and especially attractive to families and pensioners, many of whom return annually.
• Quality building plots are in ever decreasing supply – it is estimated that there are only a few years of good development potential left. The scarcity of quality plots will drive capital growth as competition for prime locations increases.
• Strict building restrictions deny high rise, high density developments.
• 80% of Cypriots speak English and all provide a warm welcome to tourists.
• Cyprus is already a favourite destination for pensioners. The current baby boom and future generations seeking refuge from inheritance and pension taxation will be attracted to Cyprus like no other location: Pension income from overseas is taxed at 5% and those who become permanently domiciled may avoid Inheritance Tax world-wide!
• Property prices are likely to rise when Cyprus joins the Euro in 2008 and interest rates come into line with the Euro zone.
• The re-unification with the Turkish occupied North of the Island is increasingly likely as Turkey pursues EU membership. This would boost tourism and investment in Cyprus and could see it returned to its former position as the "jewel of the Mediterranean". It is interesting to note that Spain took off as a result of the Turkish invasion of 1974, forcing Brits to holiday elsewhere!

We cannot understate the importance of chosing the right location - for us it is the East coast which will shortly benefit from a modern high capacity airport, golf courses in the area and a new Marina.

But what really makes holiday investments like this work is innovative finance, and ability to rent both in and out of peak season.

We have recently closed off the ONLY 90% Loan to Value opportunity to date. These were villas located 50m from the beach (and hence significantly lower cost than beach front), to be built to the highest specification in the region, with heated pools and plasma TV screens included, and that the development itself is gated - another first.