Tuberider
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DND
If you are interested in this kind of stuff the you should of course read the daddy of them all, 'The Protocols Of Zion':
PROTOCOL No. 201. To-day we shall touch upon the financial program, which I put off to the end of my report as being the most difficult, the crowning and the decisive point of our plans. Before entering upon it I will remind you that I have already spoken before by way of a hint when I said that the sum total of our actions is settled by the question of figures.
2. When we come into our kingdom our autocratic government will avoid, from a principle of self-preservation, sensibly burdening the masses of the people with taxes, remembering that it plays the part of father and protector. But as State organization cost dear it is necessary nevertheless to obtain the funds required for it. It will, therefore, elaborate with particular precaution the question of equilibrium in this matter.
3. Our rule, in which the king will enjoy the legal fiction that everything in his State belongs to him (which may easily be translated into fact), will be enabled to resort to the lawful confiscation of all sums of every kind for the regulation of their circulation in the State. From this follows that taxation will best be covered by a progressive tax on property. In this manner the dues will be paid without straitening or ruining anybody in the form of a percentage of the amount of property. The rich must be aware that it is their duty to place a part of their superfluities at the disposal of the State since the State guarantees them security of possession of the rest of their property and the right of honest gains, I say honest, for the control over property will do away with robbery on a legal basis.
4. This social reform must come from above, for the time is ripe for it - it is indispensable as a pledge of peace.
5. The tax upon the poor man is a seed of revolution and works to the detriment of the State which in hunting after the trifling is missing the big. Quite apart from this, a tax on capitalists diminishes the growth of wealth in private hands in which we have in these days concentrated it as a counterpoise to the government strength of the GOYIM - their State finances.
6. A tax increasing in a percentage ratio to capital will give much larger revenue than the present individual or property tax, which is useful to us now for the sole reason that it excites trouble and discontent among the GOYIM.
7. The force upon which our king will rest consists in the equilibrium and the guarantee of peace, for the sake of which things it is indispensable that the capitalists should yield up a portion of their incomes for the sake of the secure working of the machinery of the State. State needs must be paid by those who will not feel the burden and have enough to take from.
8. Such a measure will destroy the hatred of the poor man for the rich, in whom he will see a necessary financial support for the State, will see in him the organizer of peace and well-being since he will see that it is the rich man who is paying the necessary means to attain these things.
9. In order that payers of the educated classes should not too much distress themselves over the new payments they will have full accounts given them of the destination of those payments, with the exception of such sums as will be appropriated for the needs of the throne and the administrative institutions.
10. He who reigns will not have any properties of his own once all in the State represented his patrimony, or else the one would be in contradiction to the other; the fact of holding private means would destroy the right of property in the common possessions of all.
11. Relatives of him who reigns, his heirs excepted, who will be maintained by the resources of the State, must enter the ranks of servants of the State or must work to obtain the right to property; the privilege of royal blood must not serve for the spoiling of the treasury.
12. Purchase, receipt of money or inheritance will be subject to the payment of a stamp progressive tax. Any transfer of property, whether money or other, without evidence of payment of this tax which will be strictly registered by names, will render the former holder liable to pay interest on the tax from the moment of transfer of these sums up to the discovery of his evasion of declaration of the transfer. Transfer documents must be presented weekly at the local treasury office with notifications of the name, surname and permanent place of residence of the former and the new holder of the property. This transfer with register of names must begin from a definite sum which exceeds the ordinary expenses of buying and selling necessaries, and these will be subject to payment only by a stamp impost of a definite percentage of the unit.
13. Just strike an estimate of how many times such taxes as these will cover the revenue of the GOYIM States.
14. The State exchequer will have to maintain a definite complement of reserve sums, and all that is collected above that complement must be returned into circulation. On these sums will be organized public works. The initiative in works of this kind, proceeding from State sources, will bind the working class firmly to the interests of the State and to those who reign. From these same sums also a part will be set aside as rewards of inventiveness and productiveness.
15. On no account should so much as a single unit above the definite and freely estimated sums be retained in the State Treasuries, for money exists to be circulated and any kind of stagnation of money acts ruinously on the running of the State machinery, for which it is the lubricant; a stagnation of the lubricant may stop the regular working of the mechanism.
16. The substitution of interest-bearing paper for a part of the token of exchange has produced exactly this stagnation. The consequences of this circumstance are already sufficiently noticeable.
17. A court of account will also be instituted by us, and in it the ruler will find at any moment a full accounting for State income and expenditure, with the exception of the current monthly account, not yet made up, and that of the preceding month, which will not yet have been delivered.
18. The one and only person who will have no interest in robbing the State is its owner, the ruler. This is why his personal control will remove the possibility of leakages or extravagances.
19. The representative function of the ruler at receptions for the sake of etiquette, which absorbs so much invaluable time, will be abolished in order that the ruler may have time for control and consideration. His power will not then be split up into fractional parts among time-serving favorites who surround the throne for its pomp and splendor, and are interested only in their own and not in the common interests of the State.
20. Economic crises have been produced by us for the GOYIM by no other means than the withdrawal of money from circulation. Huge capitals have stagnated, withdrawing money from States, which were constantly obliged to apply to those same stagnant capitals for loans. These loans burdened the finances of the State with the payment of interest and made them the bond slaves of these capitals .... The concentration of industry in the hands of capitalists out of the hands of small masters has drained away all the juices of the peoples and with them also the States.
21. The present issue of money in general does not correspond with the requirements per head, and cannot therefore satisfy all the needs of the workers. The issue of money ought to correspond with the growth of population and thereby children also must absolutely be reckoned as consumers of currency from the day of their birth. The revision of issue is a material question for the whole world.
22. YOU ARE AWARE THAT THE GOLD STANDARD HAS BEEN THE RUIN OF THE STATES WHICH ADOPTED IT, FOR IT HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO SATISFY THE DEMANDS FOR MONEY, THE MORE SO THAT WE HAVE REMOVED GOLD FROM CIRCULATION AS FAR AS POSSIBLE.
23. With us the standard that must be introduced is the cost of working-man power, whether it be reckoned in paper or in wood. We shall make the issue of money in accordance with the normal requirements of each subject, adding to the quantity with every birth and subtracting with every death.
24. The accounts will be managed by each department (the French administrative division), each circle.
25. In order that there may be no delays in the paying out of money for State needs the sums and terms of such payments will be fixed by decree of the ruler; this will do away with the protection by a ministry of one institution to the detriment of others.
26. The budgets of income and expenditure will be carried out side by side that they may not be obscured by distance one to another.
27. The reforms projected by us in the financial institutions and principles of the GOYIM will be clothed by us in such forms as will alarm nobody. We shall point out the necessity of reforms in consequence of the disorderly darkness into which the GOYIM by their irregularities have plunged the finances. The first irregularity, as we shall point out, consists in their beginning with drawing up a single budget which year after year grows owing to the following cause: this budget is dragged out to half the year, then they demand a budget to put things right, and this they expend in three months, after which they ask for a supplementary budget, and all this ends with a liquidation budget. But, as the budget of the following year is drawn up in accordance with the sum of the total addition, the annual departure from the normal reaches as much as 50 per cent in a year, and so the annual budget is trebled in ten years. Thanks to such methods, allowed by the carelessness of the GOY States, their treasuries are empty. The period of loans supervenes, and that has swallowed up remainders and brought all the GOY States to bankruptcy.
28. You understand perfectly that economic arrangements of this kind, which have been suggested to the GOYIM by us, cannot be carried on by us.
29. Every kind of loan proves infirmity in the State and a want of understanding of the rights of the State. Loans hang like a sword of Damocles over the heads of rulers, who, instead of taking from their subjects by a temporary tax, come begging with outstretched palm to our bankers. Foreign loans are leeches which there is no possibility of removing from the body of the State until they fall off of themselves or the State flings them off. But the GOY States do not tear them off; they go on in persisting in putting more on to themselves so that they must inevitably perish, drained by voluntary blood-letting.
30. What also indeed is, in substance, a loan, especially a foreign loan? A loan is - an issue of government bills of exchange containing a percentage obligation commensurate to the sum of the loan capital. If the loan bears a charge of 5 per cent, then in twenty years the State vainly pays away in interest a sum equal to the loan borrowed, in forty years it is paying a double sum, in sixty - treble, and all the while the debt remains an unpaid debt.
31. From this calculation it is obvious that with any form of taxation per head the State is baling out the last coppers of the poor taxpayers in order to settle accounts with wealthy foreigners, from whom it has borrowed money instead of collecting these coppers for its own needs without the additional interest.
32. So long as loans were internal the GOYIM only shuffled their money from the pockets of the poor to those of the rich, but when we bought up the necessary persons in order to transfer loans into the external sphere, all the wealth of States flowed into our cash-boxes and all the GOYIM began to pay us the tribute of subjects.
33. If the superficiality of GOY kings on their thrones in regard to State affairs and the venality of ministers or the want of understanding of financial matters on the part of other ruling persons have made their countries debtors to our treasuries to amounts quite impossible to pay it has not been accomplished without, on our part, heavy expenditure of trouble and money.
34. Stagnation of money will not be allowed by us and therefore there will be no State interest-bearing paper, except a one per-cent series, so that there will be no payment of interest to leeches that suck all the strength out of the State. The right to issue interest-bearing paper will be given exclusively to industrial companies who find no difficulty in paying interest out of profits, whereas the State does not make interest on borrowed money like these companies, for the State borrows to spend and not to use in operations.
35. Industrial papers will be bought also by the government which from being as now a paper of tribute by loan operations will be transformed into a lender of money at a profit. This measure will stop the stagnation of money, parasitic profits and idleness, all of which were useful for us among the GOYIM so long as they were independent but are not desirable under our rule.
36. How clear is the undeveloped power of thought of the purely brute brains of the GOYIM, as expressed in the fact that they have been borrowing from us with payment of interest without ever thinking that all the same these very moneys plus an addition for payment of interest must be got by them from their own State pockets in order to settle up with us. What could have been simpler than to take the money they wanted from their own people?
37. But it is a proof of the genius of our chosen mind that we have contrived to present the matter of loans to them in such a light that they have even seen in them an advantage for themselves.
38. Our accounts, which we shall present when the time comes, in the light of centuries of experience gained by experiments made by us on the GOY States, will be distinguished by clearness and definiteness and will show at a glance to all men the advantage of our innovations. They will put an end to those abuses to which we owe our mastery over the GOYIM, but which cannot be allowed in our kingdom.
39. We shall so hedge about our system of accounting that neither the ruler nor the most insignificant public servant will be in a position to divert even the smallest sum from its destination without detection or to direct it in another direction except that which will be once fixed in a definite plan of action.
40. And without a definite plan it is impossible to rule. Marching along an undetermined road and with undetermined resources brings to ruin by the way heroes and demi-gods.
41. The GOY rulers, whom we once upon a time advised should be distracted from State occupations by representative receptions, observances of etiquette, entertainments, were only screens for our rule. The accounts of favorite courtiers who replaced them in the sphere of affairs were drawn up for them by our agents, and every time gave satisfaction to short-sighted minds by promises that in the future economies and improvements were foreseen were questions that might have been but were not asked by those who read our accounts and projects.
42. You know to what they have been brought by this carelessness, to what pitch of financial disorder they have arrived, notwithstanding the astonishing industry of their peoples ....
PROTOCOL No. 21
1. To what I reported to you at the last meeting I shall now add a detailed explanation of internal loans. Of foreign loans I shall say nothing more, because they have fed us with the national moneys of the GOYIM, but for our State there will be no foreigners, that is, nothing external.
2. We have taken advantage of the venality of administrators and slackness of rulers to get our moneys twice, thrice and more times over, by lending to the GOY governments moneys which were not at all needed by the States. Could anyone do the like in regard to us? .... Therefore, I shall only deal with the details of internal loans.
3. States announce that such a loan is to be concluded and open subscriptions for their own bills of exchange, that is, for their interest-bearing paper. That they may be within the reach of all the price is determined at from a hundred to a thousand; and a discount is made for the earliest subscribers. Next day by artificial means the price of them goes up, the alleged reason being that everyone is rushing to buy them. In a few days the treasury safes are, as they say, overflowing and there's more money than they can do with (why then take it?) The subscription, it is alleged, covers many times over the issue total of the loan; in this lies the whole stage effect - look you, they say, what confidence is shown in the government's bills of exchange.
4. But when the comedy is played out there emerges the fact that a debit and an exceedingly burdensome debit has been created. For the payment of interest it becomes necessary to have recourse to new loans, which do not swallow up but only add to the capital debt. And when this credit is exhausted it becomes necessary by new taxes to cover, not the loan, BUT ONLY THE INTEREST ON IT. These taxes are a debit employed to cover a debit .... (Hence THE CRY TO BALANCE THE BUDGET!)
5. Later comes the time for conversions, but they diminish the payment of interest without covering the debt, and besides they cannot be made without the consent of the lenders; on announcing a conversion a proposal is made to return the money to those who are not willing to convert their paper. If everybody expressed his unwillingness and demanded his money back, the government would be hoist on their own petard and would be found insolvent and unable to pay the proposed sums. By good luck the subjects of the GOY governments, knowing nothing about financial affairs, have always preferred losses on exchange and diminution of interest to the risk of new investments of their moneys, and have thereby many a time enabled these governments to throw off their shoulders a debit of several millions.
6. Nowadays, with external loans, these tricks cannot be played by the GOYIM for they know that we shall demand all our moneys back.
7. In this way in acknowledged bankruptcy will best prove to the various countries the absence of any means between the interests of the peoples and of those who rule them.
8. I beg you to concentrate your particular attention upon this point and upon the following: nowadays all internal loans are consolidated by so-called flying loans, that is, such as have terms of payment more or less near. These debts consist of moneys paid into the savings banks and reserve funds. If left for long at the disposition of a government these funds evaporate in the payment of interest on foreign loans, and are placed by the deposit of equivalent amount of RENTS.
9. And these last it is which patch up all the leaks in the State treasuries of the GOYIM.
10. When we ascend the throne of the world all these financial and similar shifts, as being not in accord with our interests, will be swept away so as not to leave a trace, as also will be destroyed all money markets, since we shall not allow the prestige of our power to be shaken by fluctuations of prices set upon our values, which we shall announce by law at the price which represents their full worth without any possibility of lowering or raising. (
11. We shall replace the money markets by grandiose government credit institutions, the object of which will be to fix the price of industrial values in accordance with government views. These institutions will be in a position to fling upon the market five hundred millions of industrial paper in one day, or to buy up for the same amount. In this way all industrial undertakings will come into dependence upon us. You may imagine for yourselves what immense power we shall thereby secure for ourselves ....
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start of credit tightening in cyprus ?
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Central Bank Decision Shocks Property Market
First Published: 18/07/2007 15:12:03
Financial Mirror
The Central Bank circular on the decline in the lending ceiling for the purchase or construction of properties from 70% to 60% has caused a stir in the property market. The release of the circular aroused strong feelings to the professionals of the sector, since they believe that the move is unjustified. Real estate agents, developers and property valuators believe that the decision will affect the businessmen and will shrink the offer instead of the demand.
The Central Bank’s decision was deemed necessary due to the rapid growth expansion that exceeded 20% in May. “This increase is sizeable and puts obstacles to an interest rate cut. It also hides inflationary pressures”, CB Governor, Athanasios Orphanides stated on Tuesday.
On the other hand, the real estate agents believe that the credit expansion is normal.
“The allocation of loans is not ‘sizeable’ but normal, given the upcoming imposition of the VAT on properties in 2008. Many developers and other individuals rush to buy land in order to avoid the VAT”, Chairman of Real Estate Agents Association, Solomon Kourouklides told StockWatch.
The circular concerns investments in properties mostly, excluding the first residence. The ceiling for the purchase or construction of a property for permanent owner-occupancy remains at 80%. According to the circular, the banks must readjust the loans that they grant to developers.
“The planning in the construction sector, which is sensitive, is of many years and such moves are not justified. How can I proceed with the projects that I have already planned, when the Central Bank announces this decision without warning?”, Chairman of the Cyprus Developers’ Association, Lakis Tofarides stated. The Association is currently preparing a letter to the CB Governor, stating its concerns and disagreements on the issue.
Property market sources support that the CB decision is not expected to reduce property prices. “The developers will face finance problems and will not be able to construct houses. This means that the offer will drop and prices will subsequently increase”, Vice Chairman of Property Valuators Association, Charalambos Petrides noted.
“The Central Bank proposal will hit the small businessmen. The property market is not manipulated as the stock exchange is. The intervention of the CB Governor is, therefore, needless”, Mr. Kourouklides emphasized.
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more on the sham that is northern Cyprus - an illegal puppet regime unrecognized by any country except Turkey
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Home buyers sour on Northern Cyprus
Escalating costs, poor workmanship and shaky legal grounds have left some buyers disillusioned and angry
By Jon Gorvett Published: July 5, 2007
NICOSIA: Dreams of luxury in the Mediterranean sun have gone sour for many Northern Cyprus home buyers, with escalating costs, poor workmanship and shaky legal grounds leaving some disillusioned and angry.
Complaints have been so plentiful that some expatriates organized the Home Buyers Pressure Group and held demonstrations outside the Turkish Cypriot Parliament to draw attention to their plight.
One such home buyer is Derek Jolly, a British citizen who lives in the village of Ozankoy, about five kilometers, or three miles, east of Kyrenia. "In my development there are 20 houses," he said. "All of them have been paid for by people like myself, looking to retire or have a holiday home here.
"Now though, the construction company has gone into liquidation and we have found that the land has been mortgaged by someone else - after we'd paid for it," Jolly said.
Pauline Hayton, a Briton who is living in another new development near the town of Lapta, described similar problems. "We were told that the place was ready and so we shipped all our furniture out here," she said. "When we arrived, there wasn't even a sink in the kitchen, doors or windows.
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"We had to keep everything in a container for weeks," Hayton added. "We have to truck in water and for electricity there's just a wire running to a neighbor's house. This whole thing has been so stressful. I've lost weight and my nerves are shot."
"It's very, very frustrating," said Marian Stokes, chairwoman of the home buyers' group. "People come here with a dream and then find they are living with no electricity, no water, piles of rubbish, the total destruction of the environment around them, too. The main problem is that there is no protection of title deeds. This leaves the landowner able to do anything they like."
Northern Cyprus declared its independence in 1983, taking about 250,000 Cypriots and about a third of the island's 9,250 square kilometers, or almost 2.3 million acres, into the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus - although only Turkey recognizes it as an independent country.
Cyprus has long been seen as an attractive location for vacation and second homes, especially among Britons, although there also are significant numbers of Germans, Dutch and Scandinavians on the island. But now foreigners who buy property in the north must obtain formal permission from Turkish Cypriot authorities before they are entitled to the deeds. And while the process is often presented as a formality, currently it can take two to three years for the permission documents to be issued. In the meantime, buyers have no legal right to the properties - even though they may have paid for them.
"In the past, the system unfortunately created a lot of victims," Romans Mapolar told members of the home buyers' group in May. But Mapolar, head of the Turkish Cypriot Immovable Property Commission and senior legal advisor to the Turkish Cypriot president, Mehmet Ali Talat, now says that a new real estate law will overcome many of the difficulties.
"The new law obliges the owner to inform the potential buyer of the legal status of the property," he said. "There will also be a reconciliation commission to look into complaints and this will operate proactively and retrospectively."
Statistics about how many foreigners own property in Northern Cyprus or how many are waiting for titles are hard to come by as the politics surrounding the issue are highly charged.
Many locals say that the current horror stories date to 2004, when a referendum was held on a United Nations-sponsored reunification plan and hopes were high that the division would be ending soon.
"At that time, everyone here became a property developer," recalled Ali Ozmen Safa of MedView Homes, a large estate agent and developer in Northern Cyprus. "The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. Everyone became a property tycoon. The regulations, laws and so on could not keep up with this. Some of us said at the time this kind of uncontrolled explosion would backfire on all of us."
The surge also saw construction standards and workmanship plummet as inexperienced contractors took a "get rich quick" attitude. "There should have been a more professional approach," Safa said. "The result has been haphazard practices for short-term gains. The rewards from property development have been great, however."
Before 2004, real estate prices and the supply of available properties were stable, Safa recalled. "Then, I'd say property prices went up about 30 to 40 percent in 12 months. The price of land also went up, maybe 200 percent, in the same period," he said.
A donem of land that went for £2,500 before would go for £20,000. This trend continued into last year, though now it's leveling off again," he said. A donem is a local standard of measurement, the equivalent of about a third of an acre, which would sell for $5,000 before 2004 and almost $40,000 now.
The UN reunification plan was rejected by Greek Cypriots, the 600,000 residents of the Republic of Cyprus in the southern portion of the island, which is recognized around the world as the government of the whole island.
The unsettled situation poses problems for home buyers. "The Turkish region is not recognized by international law," said Yiola Stavraki, a lawyer and a Greek Cypriot. "If the state that sells the properties is not recognized, how can the title deeds it issues be recognized?" She also argues that the Turkish republic does not have the right to transfer the titles to land that was owned by Greek Cypriots before 1974 and notes that buyers of such land could face legal action in the future.
Yet a Turkish Cypriot lawyer, Peyman Erginel, argues that authorities in Northern Cyprus have established a property commission to compensate Greek Cypriots and that "this commission is acting in line with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights on the property issue on Cyprus."
"Now the government is in the process of passing new laws and trying to find a solution to the problems," Erginel continued. "Time will tell whether these laws will be satisfactory or will need improvement. At present, if the purchasers obtain legal advice from an experienced lawyer before purchasing a property, they can minimize the problems they may face."
Meanwhile, some residents say there are many positives among all the horror stories. "You do also see many people who have had a fantastic deal here," said Stokes, chairwoman of the home buyers' group. "This is a wonderful, beautiful island and people can have no problems at all. It's not all bad news, but the thing is, you just don't know how your own story will turn out."
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Cyprus banks go into lending frenzy
17/05/2007
-- Advances up 21%, deposits surge 21% to CYP 20 bln
Cypriots have gone on a massive borrowing spree encouraged by easy and flexible loan products from the commercial banks with the majority snapping up property, which in the process has fuelled prices ever higher.
The revelation by the island’s two largest banks, Bank of Cyprus and Marfin Popular Bank that during the first quarter of the year, their loan portfolios galloped at 23% and 28% respectively has been confirmed by figures released by the Central Bank of Cyprus, which shows that total advances by all banks in Cyprus surged 21.3% YoY to CYP 12.51 bln, or a whopping CYP 2.2 bln compared to CYP 10.31 bln a year ago in March 2006.
The biggest advance in loans has been channeled into building and construction loans, up 31% YoY to CYP 2.36 bln by contractors and by 28.5% with respect to private loans to CYP 6.3 bln from CYP 4.95 bln a year ago in March. The third largest component of loans, domestic and foreign trade was stable at CYP 1.5 bln.
The Cooperative Credit Societies, meanwhile, increased their combined loans by half a billion to CYP 4 bln by March compared to CYP 3.59 bln in March 2006, but the pace of advance in the first three months of 2007 amounted to CYP 52 mln, confirming that they are losing market share to the banks.
-- Lending frenzy
The lending frenzy in March must have been a record considering that in March 2007 alone, total lending surged by CYP 594 mln compared to February 2007, while in the first three months of the year, total lending is up CYP 830 mln.
Compare that to the total Jan-Mar 2006 increase of CYP 342 mln and one realizes the dimension of the lending craze now dominating the country.
The fact that most of the new loans are taken to buy property means that while property prices continue to head higher, at least the trade deficit and the rate of inflation have not been adversely affected. Inflation by March 2007 was up 1.8% YoY, while total imports were up only 3.3% in the Jan-March 2007 period with the trade deficit 8% higher, but mostly because of an 11% drop in exports.
-- Property bubble?
Residential house prices in Cyprus rose by 1.1% over the previous month in April, according to the BuySell Home Price Index, as the index reached 122.44 and brought the average home price in Cyprus to CYP 95,394 (EUR 196,680).
Compared with the same month of 2006, prices rose by 9.6% in April, slightly lower than the 9.9% increase recorded in March.
“With so much lending geared to the property sector, one would expect a much higher price increase in housing, but it seems that developers are busy off-loading property, reducing their inventory levels,” said a worried analyst, remembering the “crazy” days in 1999/2000 when easy money directed by the banks to the stock market, led to the creation of a bubble, after which equity prices crashed when the Central Bank tightened the flow of money and forced banks to halt such lending.
Will the Central Bank take action and start imposing penalties on bank for exceeding lending targets? That is the million pound question since not many people know the views of the newly appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus, Athanasios Orphanides.
He does have the right credentials, considering that he worked at the Fed and has seen the ups and downs of the property market in the US, its long term impact on the economy and banks in particular. Orphanides is also aware of the sub-prime lending problems haunting the US property market and the economy in general, a problem that can easily be repeated in Cyprus.
Alternatively the Central Bank may attempt a soft landing of the economy, by ordering the banks to cut down on lending, or at least enforce the minimum criteria, which since last year stipulates that housing loans should not exceed 70% of the value of the property.
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The 'TRNC' is an illegal state aand is NOT RECOGNIZED BY ANY COUNTRY OTHER THAN TURKEY.
Most of the houses there are built on land which has been seized from its rightful Greek Cypriot owners. In the event of a settlement, this land will be returned or compensated for by the occupying army.
There is not legal protection for buyers in the 'TRNC' as it is a pariah state which does not conform to international law. Many of the world's fugitives hide out there, as there are no extradition treaties in place and Interpol has no juristiction there. Polly Peck swindler Asil Nadir has been living there for years, where the British legal system cannot touch him. many others are in hiding there and it has become a paradise for wanted drug dealers, murderers and deviants of all kinds.
Remember, investors have no protection or legal recourse should they decide to purchase property in this illegal state. .
Therefore YOU BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK !!!
Victorialoss, it is too bad for your parents. If they were foolish enough to buy in such an outlawed place then they must suffer the consequences. A fool and his money are easily parted.
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ella red
i dont have access to that feature - dont know why !
any other way to get in touch ?
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Hastings, God what a toilet. Lived there for a few years as a kid. Totally depressing and miserable hell-hole.
My old man had a block there on the seafront. He got tired of the DSS tenants and put it on the market last year. Sold like a hot cake. 3 interested buyers, then a developer came along and trumped all the offers. My dad couldn't wait to offload that place, he just new he was never gonna get that money for it ever again.
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The north of Cyprus is under occupation by Turkish troops, and is not a recognized 'state'. Most of the properties there are built on seized Greek Cypriot land and there is avery high element of risk invovled, as these properties will be returned and/or compensated for in the event of a solution.
You would have to be a complete fool to buy there.
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Red
Ti kaneis re
good letter !
How do you think this Spanish meltdown will affect the Cyprus market ?
I'm guessing that prices here will have to follow whatever prices in Spain will do, in order for our market to stay competetive. our boom has been driven by the British after all, and if they can pick up a better bargain in Spain then they will buy there instead.
BTW tons and tons of unsold property in Cyprus, price of land still seems to be rising, price of houses, apartments and commercial property stagnant
For sale or for rent banners everywhere
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Skanked.
You smoked me out in no time.
The smart money is piling into Cyprus. Low cost airlines are going to connect the island with a wide range of regional UK airports over the next 5 years. WHENEVER this happens (Southern France, Costas, N Italy) house prices rocket.
Morocco has been good. Cyprus won't be quite as lucrative as it doesn't start from fly blown African peanuts. But it is good and will continue to be so despite the coming HPC and recession.
ANDY
I am in Cyprus and have been for over ten years.
Andy, sorry mate but that has got to be the worst appraisal of the Cypriot market that I have heard yet.
Take a drive around the island. Don't you see those hundreds of newbuilt villas and apartments sitting empty ?
And yet they are still building more !
Furthermore, we have the beginnings of a tourist slump here as visitor numbers are collapsing month-on-month. Our main market, the British are staying well away this year.
We are as precariously balanced on a knife edge as Spain. Our market has been driven soley by British and Irish buyers MEWing to buy holiday homes. I think that when Spain topples, it will drive a knife into the heart of the Cypriot property market as the British who can afford to buy will opt for Spain instead, where they can find bargains.
Dont forget that the cost of living in Cyprus is very high compared to that of Spain. We may also lose a large number of our retirees, and expats on fixed incomes.
Cyprus is part of ther global bubble, as such it will be part of the global crash.
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Realist, I dont see why you get so excited about America?
Our last housing recession was independant of the US market.
Another rate rise in the UK and we could be into a crash, indeed repo actions are up dramatically.
All this 'America sneezes and we get a cold' cr@p is ancient history.
Perhaps the yanks are going through what we had in 2005 - a lot of bumping along the bottom, I wouldnt get so excited if I were you.
one trillion in ARM's are due to reset this year to higher rates. is that a recipe for a rising market ?
and do not forget, that america is the world's 'consumer of last resort' - most other countries are running trade surpluses. if the US consumer stops buying, the world economy sputters
there is a time to be optimistic, but this is not it
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Tuberider,
Are you 'J&J' on the Cyprus forum ?.
Agree with what you say about jobs and businesses. If Cypriots see an outsider making a success out of something, they are quick to 'take over' by whatever means. Don't blame them.
I'm lucky that when I do move on a semi-permanent basis I won't need to work, thanks to prudent saving and investment. Admittedly, that's a few years off but I intend buying this year, to use for holidays in the interim.
A number of pundits think prices in Cyprus are overdue a downward correction. Certainly official figures for 2005 show more properties being built than were sold. As with most overseas markets I think the best buys are to be found amongst resales, not new build.
indeed i am. i used to post as 'tuberider', but was banned after instigating a debate regarding a possible crash in the cyprus property
market.
apparently the top moderator there is an estate agent from paphos, so clearly i had trodden on a few toes.
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Some of us have to do intelectual jobs which require good access to journals and a serious atmosphere. Cyprus does not have this. Cyprus is good for retirees and for
people who have money and do not need to work anymore. And also who do not want to work anymore.
Very true my friend. I am lucky enough to have a stimulating and very well-paid job here, but many others are not. Good jobs are few and far between in Cyprus and salaries are very low - average being about 800 Cyprus Pounds per month. The cost of living is rising all the time and buying a house is an impossible feat for most local people.
The only positive is that utilites are still cheap here - gas, electricity, water, etc. taxes are also very low, like our friend soldintime recently pointed out. But most other things like food, appliances, clothing etc etc are very pricey compared to mainland Europe. The price of cars for example is a bloody joke.
Still, for quality of life you cannot beat it here. Some things you have to forgo. You have to weigh up what is more important to you and make a decision based on the logic that 'you can't have everything'. Well-paid and interesting work in the UK, with all the hustle and bustle and excitement that it entails, is not for everyone. I know many people here who downshifted to a life in the sun and took on jobs or created small businesses with much less salary than they would get in the UK, just to live the peaceful life.
The years go by far too quickly to spend life shuffling about in a drizzly grey town. I think Gal best sums it up in 'Sexy Beast':
“People say, "Don't you miss it, Gal?" I say, "What, England? Nah. ******ing place. It's a dump. Don't make me laugh. Grey, grimy, sooty. What a shit hole. What a toilet. Every **** with a long face shuffling about, moaning, all worried. No thanks, not for me." They say, "What's it like, then, Spain?" And I'll say, "It's hot. Hot. Oh, it's ******ing hot. Too hot? Not for me, I love it."
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Hey there Radio. True, nuclear fallout does not discriminate between friendly and unfriendly countries. What I was driving at, was that Iran is not seen as a threat to us here - Israel and the USA are always the ones stirring the pot and screwing up our economy and tourist trade. A good example of this is the Lebanon bombings, which had a huge negative impact on tourism here. Also the two Gulf wars, the first of which sent tourism here into near collapse.
We quite like the Iranians. We have friendly relations with them and do not consider them to be the 'looney-mullahs' that the west do. Much scarier are the orthodox Jews in Israel and the gunslinging of guys like Bush, Netanyahu and Sharon.
Moving to Cyprus ? Aaaaah, you are joining the exodus from England like the rest ! Cyprus is a great country, why anyone would want to live in the UK is beyond me. BUT be careful: you need a good source of income here. Life is no longer cheap. Also you need to really speak some Greek to get a job, unless you are very lucky. Furthermore the locals do not like to support businesses owned and run by foreginers - we are still rather a xenophobic bunch. There are lots of English chavvy-types here eeking a living doing every trade imaginable. Many imagine that if they put 'Britsh owned and run !' all over their white vans in big letters it will be good for trade, sadly for them this is not the case. To really succeed here you have to integrate, just like in any other country. The Chav enclaves in Paphos and Larnaka have quite a high turnover.
Many are those who came in search of the dream and left the island a few grand lighter, with nothing but a bad sunburn to show for it
I wish you luck
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There was a big article in yesterday's Sunday Times on Israeli plans for a nuclear strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. It mentioned in passing that some sources believed that Iran had already acquired nuclear weapons from the former Soviet Union.
So, possible scenario: Israel drops nuclear bombs in Iraq, Iraq retaliates with the same; it wouldn't need much of a westerly wind to blow the fallout over Cyprus. What price your holiday home then ?.
It would take an easterly wind to carry the fallout over Cyprus. Easterly winds only happen throughout the winter months of November-March, and then only about 50% of the time. The westerly wind is the prevailing one here and it is generated from the Aegean sea- the infamous 'meltemi thermal wind' that windsurfers dream of. So it is much more likely that the fallout will sit over Iran and neighbouring countries, held there by high pressure, or be carried east to India and China etc.
More of a threat to us here in Cyprus is the huge Turkish army stationed in the occupied north - not any nuclear action from Iran, whom we anyway consider a friendly country.
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Some good points
however Cyprus is expensive and hard to get to, being out of the range of the budget airlines
also the cost of living here is very high compared to countries such as spain, bulgaria, morocco etc. pensions do not strecth that far here.
we have seen a definite reversal of the retiree trend in paphos lately - and there can be no doubt that the market here is heading into saturation soon. the whole island has become one big building site.
so i really wonder if the recent falls are really just a blip, or the start of a crash. it will be interesting to find out.
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Residential property prices fall for third consecutive month
Financial Mirror 02/01/2007
But the trend is firmly upwards
Residential property prices in Cyprus fell for their third consecutive month in November according to the hedonic BuySell Home Price Index of asking prices.
The BuySell Home Price Index dropped by 0.4% according to our calculations to 117.07 in November, from 117.60 in October, bringing the Average Home Price to CYP 91,213 (around EUR 155,000).
However, monthly fluctuations in house prices should be taken with a pinch of salt, given that the last part of the year is not normally the best for real estate sales.
Looking at longer-term figures, the trend is firmly upwards. Home prices in November were 6.3% higher than in January and home prices in Jan-November rose by 5.4% over Jan-Nov 2005.
At the risk of comparing apples with pears, this broadly appears to match the recent trend in the value of permits authorised.
After a dip in the first few months of the year, the value of building permits authorised rose by 8.3% year on year in Jan-October, compared with a low of 2.9% in January-March.
The BuySell Home Price Index was created and is updated monthly on behalf of BuySell Cyprus Real Estate by the independent economic research organisation S. Platis ECONOMIC RESEARCH. The Index is announced during the second week of each month and depicts the movement of prices at which residential properties are sold in Cyprus, based on the extensive BuySell Cyprus Real Estate database.
Cyprus building permits reach 14% of GDP
Residential dominates
The value of building permits authorised in Cyprus rose by 8.3% year on year in January to October, to reach CYP 1.18 bln, or 14% of likely GDP in 2006, according to our calculations.
In the same period the number of building permits rose by 8.3% and the area of permits rose by 3.8%.
By far the biggest concentration of value is in residential buildings permits, worth CYP 1.0 bln. Of this, more than half (CYP 526 mln) is accounted for by single houses. These rose in value by 5.4% compared with Jan-Oct 2005.
However, if it is value growth that you are after, then the hottest place to be is in the niche markets. The 8 “residencies for communities” authorised in Jan-Oct 2006 were valued at only CYP 1.9 mln, but climbed 355.5% in value compared with those authorised Jan-Oct 2005.
Similarly, the 31 “cottage apartment complexes”, valued at just CYP 28.9 mln, climbed 273.8% in value compared with those authorised in 2005.
Among the large categories, the biggest growth by value has been in residential apartment blocks, up by 10.8% to CYP 300.4 mln, and residential/commercial mix apartment blocks, up by 17.9% to CYP 55 mln.
Authorisations of office buildings have fallen steeply, by 41.1% in value and 25.8% in number.
After a strong start civil engineering has also fallen in value, although the number of projects authorised is still 45.6% higher than last year. Civil engineering projects probably relate mainly to the long overdue upgrades of Larnaca and Paphos airports.
Fiona Mullen, Sapienta Economics Ltd
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Talking up the market ?
Cyprus property market set to boom, say experts
By Demetra Molyva
The Cyprus Weekly 5th January
CYPRUS is among the three EU countries - with the UK and France - where property is set to boom in 2007, with price rises of up to 15%, according to property specialists Assetz.
They say the island is among the established property markets, which will be the hotspots for 2007, while emerging destinations such as Bulgaria and Croatia are set to cool.
Local experts see the local property market booming with steady increases for the year, before it stabilises for a while with all types of property in Cyprus, including plots, flats, houses and offices affected.
Estate agent Evripides Lemonaris told The Cyprus Weekly that flats and houses will see increases of 10%-15%.
“Land is set to see even higher increases this year, up to 20%-25% due to the prospect of the introduction of VAT on plots of land in 2008. Expected demand this year is set to put prices up,” Lemonaris said.
He also sees an upward trend for office property, which has been through a decline.
“The demand for office property from large foreign companies, including banks and local organisations, for mainly large buildings, means the office property market is set to reverse its slump of the past few years,” Lemonaris said.
He said the only problem faced in the local property market now is a slump in the rented accommodation market, mainly flats, which is happening for the first time in many years, due again to supply and demand, with too many flats and houses available for rent at present.
Urban areas
Property expert and project manager Antonis Loizou, said that the property scene on the island is set to see a boom with an expected increase of up to 10% at least for most properties.
According to Loizou, land and development projects in urban areas will see an increase of around 12% while areas near towns will go up 15%.
Nicosia office property, Loizou said, would see an increase of at least 20%, as a result of demand, and this goes for old and new buildings.
Beach land is also set to see an increase of 20% and land near the sea front will go up, at least 15%, Loizou said.
The free Famagusta area, including Paralimni and Sotira villages, will increase by 20% and property in Larnaca 10% as result of over-supply. Warehouses and establishments that are not so pricey will go up 15%, while expensive property, especially homes, will go up 5% and the not-so-expensive ones 10%, Loizou said.
Holiday homes in tourist areas across the island which are not near the sea front will go up 15% and land outside tourist zones will increase between 15%-20%, he told this newspaper.
Loizou agreed with Lemonaris that plots of land would go up by at least 20% as a result of the changes in local planning provisions and the prospect of the introduction of VAT next year.
The main reasons for the overall increase in the local property market his year was supply and demand, due to low interest rates (only 4%) in deposit accounts, foreign demand for property on the island and the change in the mentality of locals, who now prefer to buy property than live in rented accommodation.
Loan facilities
“The facilities given by banks, with up to 30 years for paying back, has made Cypriots to want to buy a home and sell it at a later stage for an even better one, rather than live in rented accommodation, “ Loizou said.
Loizou and Lemonaris thought emerging markets like Bulgaria, because of its EU accession, would see a bigger increase in their property market prices, around 30%-40%.
International property market analysts say property in Spain will level off this year, with no increases, Germany will be stable and the UK will see increases of up to 10% in London and 5% elsewhere.
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I think the soldiers are Turkey's national service conscripts.
If you are a Cypriot, then I too would feel uncomfortable with them, but as a Brit, I have to say I never feel uncomfortable at all. I agree there are some Borat look a likes, but then, I could point a couple of those out in the South!
Unfortunately the North is starting to succumb (IMHO) to the developers just as the south has. With that said though, I soooo love Kyrenia with those imposing hills.
Things realy have changed here since I first came here back in 1996. I suspect you have seen it to.
I take it you are still waiting for compensation then if your home was in Ayis Georgios? I hoe they do sort the problem out, but I have to say, I'm not holding my breath.
Those hills are magnificent, yes. What a stunning place. Karmi has got to be one of the most beautiful places on earth
family has a lot of land in ayios georgios, smack on the beach. will get something for it, i am sure
also agree that the problem may not be solved too soon, but we live in hope
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Tell me you don't think the un recognised bit isn't better though, especially Kyrenia.
And if you fancy a punt, it still offers SOOOOOOO much more for your £ than the horrible overcrowded south.
Plus the Turks aren't carrying chips on their shoulders are being booted out by the Turks!
In terms of natural beauty the north is of course far nicer and still pretty much unspoilt. I love Kyrenia as it was our home before 1974. We are from Ayis Georgios just to the west of the town.
Visited the 'north' last year, did not feel comfortable at all, especially with those huge gangs of Borat-looking characters roaming about everywhere. No families or couples on the streets - just those big gangs of men.
Whats that all about ? Off-duty soldiers ? Unemployed ?
Maybe you can shed some light
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Cyprus
The recognized, legal bit
been here ten years after escape from norf laaandahhn
no plans to return to the UK although i still have property there
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WOW! Im gonna plunge ALLL my money into betting on a falling market in 2008 then. WOOOHHOOOOO im gonna be a zillionair. Guess all you guys are too. Infact everyone is gonna arent they cos there is no way this guy can be wrong!!
But seriously, it would be happy days, wow id be able to upgrade to a real beaut of a house if 30/40% fell off the market.
you catch on quick my friend
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... interesting.
OK, so, if he gets the timing right, what does he say about the magnitude of the coming crash? And will prices rise in the twelve months of 2007? (Sorry if I'm going over old ground)
He reckons prices will keep rising throughout 2007. this mini-boom we are seeing in London now will ripple outwards through the rest of the country next year
Crash coming in 2008 some time with the trough between 2010-2012. thereafter prices will start to recover.
harrison first heard of this model from a Chigaco real estate speculator who used it with great success.
he expanded it and developed his own models which have been accurate so far
book is well worth 25 quid
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that is indeed a very good book
i have said it a few times here, that freddy harrison is spot on and his predicitons will likely pan out nicely
so we might as well all go home. rehashing the same old arguments since 2003 isn't going to make anything happen any quicker.
Rothschild Family Unifies Holdings
in House prices and the economy
Posted
Whoah
Slow down there !
Lizards and aliens and prozac in the water supply ?
Those sorts of wild and crazy theories are propagated to discredit those who question the debt money system and the fact that the worlds finances are controlled by a small uber elite.
The minute you mention usury or fractional reserve banking, then you are labelled a nutcase or weirdo in the same leagues as David Icke and all the other morons - effectively killing any intelligent debate on the matter.
This annoys me to no end. I don't even believe in aliens, for God's sake.
We KNOW that money is created out of nothing. We KNOW that the world's major banks are controlled by private interests. We KNOW that governments are in debt to the tune of trillions and trillions of dollars.
How can this be ? Surely the government, the highest power in the land, should have the right to coin and distribute money for the benefit of it's citizens ? And how the heck can a government GO INTO DEBT ? There is no higher power than government (supposedly).
So we should ask ourselves, to whom is the government, the representative of the people, indebted ? Who are these lenders, and how did they get, or who gave them, the right to coin and distribute money ? And how did they achieve such terrifying levels of power and control ?
Lots of questions which cannot be answered by magic lizards and aliens on prozac
PS Regardless of whether you think the POZ are real or faked (and if truth be told, we have no way of knowing), they are what they are: a concise and hard hitting treatise on the state of international finance today.
Remember, the definition of a fool, is someone who doesn't believe in what he sees.