Jonnie: Today I am with Peter from estate agency A20. Now Peter, you've brought me to a part of western Cyprus that I really didn't know much about. Tell me about where we are today.
Peter: Well, we're just outside Polis in the western part of Cyprus. This is recognized as the most scenic part of Cyprus.
Jonnie: Yes, on the way here I saw beautiful mountains. The sea looks really interesting as well.
Peter: We have the Mediterranean Sea in front. To the left you have the Akamas nature reserve that can never be built on. And then behind us, we have the Paphos pine forest, again can't be built on. So this area is becoming more exclusive. We have the lovely town of Polis, it's a traditional town with paved streets. Then just up the road we have Latchi Marina. Half of it is luxury yachts, and the other half is local fishing boats.
Jonnie: So why don't we Brit buyers know about this? It's a bit of a secret, isn't it?
Peter: It is. We try and change that, but a lot of British people, they think Cyprus, Paphos.
Jonnie: Yes.
Peter: So Paphos is very built up, and what happens is sometimes people buy in Paphos, and then they drive up to Latchi Marina and sit there in the restaurant looking at the yachts and the sea and think, "Why didn't we come here?" So one of our biggest challenges being the biggest estate agent in the area by a long way is persuading people to come to this part of the world.
Jonnie: And have a look at it before you take the plunge in buying somewhere else. Now I have looked around, and it hasn't seemed particularly densely populated, which I love. That normally means prices are a bit higher. So for a start, let's go through the market shall we? Two bedroom apartment, access to a pool or near a beach. What are we looking at?
Peter: 90,000 euros, say at the moment for 80,000 pounds.
Jonnie: Okay. Then we go up to a villa. What am I looking at for a villa?
Peter: Standard three bedroom villa is going to cost you in English terms about 260 pounds.
Peter: With a pool and with sea views. Often that comes furnished as well.
Jonnie: Okay. So we move up towards the middle market. What will 500,000 pounds get me?
Peter: A three, four bedroom villa, large landscape gardens, good views.
Jonnie: Well okay, that's-
Peter: Compared to the UK, it's very cheap.
Jonnie: Compared to UK, it's cheaper, but it's probably a more expensive option then parts of, say, Spain, but we're not dealing with the same sort of buyer and certainly not the same sort of climate and topography, are we, really?
Peter: And the strange thing about this area is we bring people here, and they say, "Isn't it wonderful? It's peaceful, it's scenic." And they say, "Why don't you have more properties?" And I say, "Well, if we had more properties, we'd be overbooked."
Jonnie: It wouldn't be quite so peaceful, would it?
Peter: That's right.
Jonnie: A lot of our buyers are looking in the luxury end of the market. We've got private clients, footballers, people in the media. Is there a market? Is there much development catering for the luxury purchase ahead?
Peter: There are. It's not overcrowded, but there are properties. We're at a property today that's beautiful. We've recently sold five bedroom villa on the beach.
Jonnie: On the beach?
Peter: Total luxury on the beach, and that went for three and a half million.
Jonnie: Oh, right, okay. So across the board, it doesn't sound like there's lots of dirt cheap apartments, but let's leave that to where the market is. Here, I think, correct me if I'm wrong. I get the impression that the market rewards people that are prepared to take the longer flight, the four and a half hour flight, and once they're here they may stay for longer.
Peter: And that's English people. We sell to Russians. It's quicker to get here from Moscow. It's four hours.
Jonnie: Oh, right, okay.
Peter: We also are now developing the Israeli market. Because of Ryanair, you can now fly from Israel to here in 40 minutes.
Jonnie: No way.
Peter: That's all...
Jonnie: That's interesting.
Peter: Then we have a lot of German and Scandinavian buyers. So there's a selection, but I have to say there's a lot of English people that come here.
Jonnie: Okay. So lastly, what's the market like here at the moment?
Peter: Good. Last year was the best year we've had for 10 years.
Jonnie: Okay, since the crisis then, yeah.
Peter: Yeah. And we were worried about this Brexit thing, but it hasn't made a small difference. But this year started off very well across all ranges. We've nearly sold out the apartments. We have a lot of interest in luxury and in the middle area as well.
Jonnie: Okay. Sounds promising. Sounds like you're in for a busy year ahead.
Peter: We hope so. Then what's nice is that when we finish work, we go down to Latchi Marina in one of the restaurants, either on the beach or overlooking the marina. That's a nice way to relax after a day's work.
Jonnie: Well, it's funny. I'm about to finish actually, so that seemed like a hint. I'll take you up on the offer then.
Peter: Thank you very much for offering to buy.