We've seen steady price growth in the Cyprus property market of around an average of 10 per cent in some key areas.

But the real growth in this market is yet to come, we believe, as the domestic mortgage market increasingly opens up and the island's low tax status increases its appeal even more to retirees who also want to spend at least part of their year in a warm destination - the so called snow-birds.

Coastal land on the island is also limited as the centre is mountainous.

After the virtual collapse of talks between the EU and Turkey, it also looks as though there will be no early end to the political division of the island between the south, the so-called Greek side, a recognised independent nation and a member of the EU, and the north, the so-called Turkish side, which is recognised internationally only by Turkey.

This is in effect a preservation of the political status quo on the island meaning the property market will be unaffected.