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According to the 'North Cyprus Estate Agents'; the property in North Cyprus is about three to four times cheaper than the property in South Cyprus at the present moment in time.

The Reasons that are given for this large price differential are that firstly there are no direct flights into the north of the island from the UK, instead one must go via Istanbul first or fly directly into the south end of the island and then drive across the border. Secondly, due to the difficulties with crossing the border until six or seven years ago, the property market has only really just started to take off in North Cyprus.

However, despite these claims research has proved to me that this price differential cannot be applied to all property. In fact, this figure only relates to a relatively small proportion of the properties in North Cyprus and depends mainly on location.

For example; in the North a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment in Alsancak, a 20 minute drive along the coast road to the main tourist town of Kyrenia property starts at '29,000. This includes a shared pool and view of the sea from half of the apartments. A relativley similar property in the South situated in Xylofagou, which is half an hour between Larnaca and Aiya Napa would set you back at '75,000. This is two and a half times more expensive than the North and does not have a sea view.

In the more popular locations the price differential increases significantly. A similar property to the one explained above in the centre of Kyrenia costs, on average '50,000, again with pool. However, in the South, in the more popular tourist locations such as Paphos and Limassol the same property could cost up to '300,000 making the Southern property six times more expensive.

The same pattern can be seen for larger properties such as three bedroom villas with their own pool; in the North this would cost between '70,000 and '250,000 depending on how close to the centre of Kyrenia you are. In the South the same property starts at '135,000 and price increases to well over '1 million depending on location.

These examples clearly show that at the lower end of the scale the price differential for properties in the North compared with the South are essentially two fold, this is being seen with both small and larger properties. As the location of properties moves towards the more popular destinations of Kyrenia in the North and Paphos, Limassol and Larnaca in the South price increases to a four, five or six fold difference.

The price difference in renting a 3 bedroom villa with pool is '200 a week, with prices in Kyrenia being between '400 and '600 a week compared to '600 to '800 a week in Paphos.

On a final note, properties in the village of Boğaz, approximately 15 minutes drive from Bafra are averaging at '45,000 for a two bedroom apartment with pool whilst a three bedroom villa with pool can range from '98,000 to '129,000 which increases to '153,000 for land with an original Turkish deed.