The job of a real estate agent in Cyprus

Welcome to the course. Over eight short lessons you will learn how to start, work and grow as a real estate agent in Cyprus. This first lesson is about the job itself: what you do all day, who pays you, and what the first year really looks like.

Scope. This course covers the Republic of Cyprus in the areas under the control of its government: Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos and the free part of Famagusta. The north of the island is a separate market with its own rules, and we do not cover it.

A regulated title, with two levels

Cyprus is one of the few European markets where the estate agent is a regulated profession with its own law. The Real Estate Agents Law 71(I)/2010, amended in 2012 and 2017, defines an estate agent as a person who is paid to mediate a property deal: a sale, a purchase, an exchange or a lease of more than one month. The body in charge is the Real Estate Agents Registration Council (we call it “the Council”), a semi-governmental body that reports to the Ministry of Interior.

The law sets up two levels:

• Licensed estate agent (κτηματομεσίτης). A registered person with a valid annual licence. Getting there takes a degree, a year of practice and an exam (lesson 3).
• Assistant estate agent (βοηθός κτηματομεσίτη). An employee of a licensed agent, entered in a separate register, who works on that agent’s instructions.

Almost everyone starts as an assistant. The Council’s site says it lists more than 600 licensed and registered agents, which tells you how small and close the profession is.

What an agent actually does

On a resale, you usually work for the seller. You:

1. Win the listing and agree the fee in writing (lesson 4).
2. Value the home, take photos and publish it, with the owner’s details and your licence numbers as the law requires.
3. Qualify buyers, organise viewings and identify every client for anti-money laundering checks.
4. Tell the buyer everything you know about the property’s condition, charges and legal restrictions. The law makes this your personal duty.
5. Help both sides reach a sales contract, then follow the lawyers, the bank and the Department of Lands and Surveys (DLS) until the title is transferred.

On a new build or off-plan sale, you sell for a developer, often to foreign buyers. On a rental, you find and check tenants for a landlord.

Who hires

You will meet three main types of employer:

• Developers and their in-house sales teams. A snapshot of the CyprusWork job board in October 2026 showed developers such as Pafilia, Constantinou Bros, MITO and Square One hiring in Limassol and Paphos, next to agencies like A.N. Stasis Estates.
• Local agencies, often family firms strong in one district.
• International networks and brokerages with offices in Limassol and Paphos, selling to foreign buyers.

The market is active. The Council, citing DLS data, counted 18,114 sales contracts in 2025, up about 15% on 2024, for a total transfer value above €4.7 billion (Cyprus Mail, January 2026). From January to September 2026, DLS figures analysed by BuySell showed another 14,969 contracts, up 14%, with foreign buyers signing 41.9% of them.

How you get paid

The law gives a starting point. Article 20 says a licensed agent may claim the agreed fee and that, unless agreed otherwise, the fee is 3% of the deal value, due when the sale or lease is concluded. In practice, Leptos Estates wrote in June 2026 that commissions usually run from 3% to 5% of the final price, usually paid by the seller, with VAT added on top. The standard VAT rate in Cyprus is 19%.

That fee goes to the licensed agent or agency. As an assistant, you get a share:

Model	How it works	Main risk
Assistant employed by an agency	Salary plus commission, social insurance paid with your employer	Smaller share per deal
Developer sales role	Salary plus a bonus or fee per unit sold	Depends on one developer’s projects
Licensed agent with your own office	You keep the fee, you pay the costs	No income until a deal closes

The law defines the assistant as an employee, so the pure commission-only freelance model you see in some countries does not fit the Cypriot text. Your contract must still respect the national minimum wage: €1,088 a month gross from 1 January 2026, or €979 in the first six months with the same employer (Harris Kyriakides).

Pay data is thin. Paylab, with fewer than 20 verified answers, shows 80% of estate agents earning between €1,400 and €3,405 a month gross. One October 2026 sales job in Paphos advertised €1,150 to €1,750 a month, plus commission. Treat these as signals, not statistics. We do the maths in lesson 8, and you can test your own numbers in the commission calculator.

A realistic first year

Be honest with yourself before you start:

• The ladder is long. You need 12 months as a registered assistant before you can even sit the agent exam, and the exam is in Greek.
• Languages pay. In 2026 most foreign buyers are from outside the EU. English is the working language with them, and Russian, Hebrew, Arabic or Chinese can open doors.
• Paperwork is the job. Title deeds, encumbrances, VAT rates and anti-money laundering checks. Agents who master them win trust.
• Illegal agents are a real problem. In November 2025 the agents’ association asked its members to record and report illegal brokerage. Do everything by the book from day one.

The agents who last build a daily routine, keep learning the rules and treat every client as a future referral. That is what this course will help you do.

What comes next

In lesson 2 we look at who is allowed to work in Cyprus, and on what basis. To see open roles now, browse jobs and compare employers on agencies.

This lesson is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and figures change, so check the official source before you act.