Rental yield in Cyprus: what a Paphos apartment actually earns, and what it costs to run one

Most pages on this subject either promise a number or sell you a spreadsheet. Below is neither: the published index for what apartments actually yield in Cyprus, what they actually rent for right now, and what that means for specific apartments that are for sale today. Figures are as at 31 August 2026 and will move — the two live links (the rent search, the catalogue) stay current after the numbers around them go stale.

Everything below is the Republic of Cyprus — the internationally recognised south, the only market we sell in. The north runs under different law and different numbers; they don't transfer.

What the market actually yields

Twice a year RICS and KPMG in Cyprus publish a joint index of prices, rents and yields by city and property type. The Q4 2025 release (published March 2026) put gross rental yield for apartments at:

"Gross" means before management, void periods, maintenance and tax — the number a spreadsheet uses to compare cities, not the cheque you'd actually receive. Paphos sits below Limassol because Paphos apartment *prices* have run ahead of Paphos *rents* — buyers are paying more for the same rental income than in Limassol. The same release recorded rental values (not yields — the actual rent charged) up 5.79% year on year for apartments nationally, the strongest-growing segment in the index.

What Paphos apartments actually rent for

Yield indices are an average; the live rental listings on Bazaraki — Cyprus's largest classifieds site — are the individual asking prices behind it. Snapshot taken 31 August 2026:

Geroskipou is worth flagging specifically: it's where two of the projects below are built.

Applying it to what's actually for sale

Taking the Paphos average (4.66%) and applying it to real available units — not a hypothetical — gives an illustrative gross figure. This is an estimate built on a published market average, not a promise about any specific unit:

*Price × 4.66% ÷ 12. Illustrative only — the Paphos average applied to today's price, not a forecast or a guarantee for that specific address.

The Cypress Park 2-bed figure (≈€1,165) lines up closely with what Geroskipou 2-beds actually ask on Bazaraki right now (≈€1,100) — the index and the live market agree on that one, which is a reasonable sanity check for the other rows.

Current full catalogue with floor plans and current prices.

What comes off the gross figure

A gross yield is the top line, not the return. What reduces it, in the order it hits:

• ·The building's own running costs. On Cypress Park specifically, the published annual community fee is €2,500 for a 1-bedroom, €3,000 for a 2-bedroom, €3,900 for a 3-bedroom — it covers the clubhouse, security, building insurance and grounds; electricity, water and the municipal charge are separate and follow whoever occupies the unit.
• ·Letting it out. Cyprus has no fixed scale; ongoing management for a long-term let typically runs 8–15% of the rent collected, or a flat €50–200 a month, and sourcing a tenant in the first place typically costs around one month's rent plus VAT. Managing it yourself removes this line but adds the work.
• ·No annual property tax to plan for. Cyprus abolished Immovable Property Tax in 2017 and it hasn't returned — see Cyprus tax in 2026 for the rest of what does and doesn't apply. What remains is a municipal charge, typically a few hundred euros a year.
• ·Tax on the rent itself. Rental income is taxed under the normal income bands after a notional 20% deduction for upkeep and any loan interest; the Special Defence Contribution on rent was abolished from 2026, but the 2.65% GESY health contribution still applies. Since 1 July 2026 rent may only be paid by bank transfer or card — cash is no longer valid, whatever the amount. Full mechanics and the income bands are in the tax article; what you actually owe depends on your total income for the year, not the rent alone.

None of this nets out to a single number here on purpose — it depends on your management choice and your other income. What's above is the checklist to run against a specific unit before you rely on any figure someone else gives you.

Long-term or short-term

Two different regimes, and they're not interchangeable:

• ·Long-term (a standard lease, typically a year or more). No special licence. You register with the Cyprus Tax Department, get a TIN if you don't have one, and the agreement is between you and the tenant.
• ·Short-term / holiday letting. Registration and a licence through the tourism authority are compulsory and enforced — this is a different, more paperwork-heavy business, usually run through a specialist agent charging 15–25% of gross income rather than the 8–15% above, because it includes turnover cleaning, check-in and platform management.

Most buy-to-let buyers in Paphos go long-term: it is the simpler regime, and it is what the 1- and 2-bedroom stock above is actually built for — year-round tenants (professionals, relocating families, people working in Paphos), not a summer-only occupancy pattern.

Which units this actually suits

Not every property in our catalogue makes an equally good rental. A villa with a garden is what the lifestyle buyer wants — the ones who intend to live in it — and it doesn't rent at the same multiple of its price as a smaller apartment does; it costs more to buy and doesn't command a proportionally higher rent. What lets predictably, apartment for apartment, is exactly the smaller, lower-priced stock in the tables above: 1- and 2-bedroom units, near a town centre rather than deep inland, at price points where the rent covers a meaningful share of the monthly cost of owning it.

That's a different filter than "which unit would I want to live in myself" — and worth applying explicitly before choosing which unit to buy, if buy-to-let is the actual goal. The new-build apartments in Paphos sit in exactly this bracket.

This is market data and a worked illustration, not a forecast for any one address and not tax advice for your situation — have the numbers checked against your own income by an accountant before you commit to a unit on the strength of them.