Property prices on the island of Malta have begun to recover after some difficult years, a new survey from the Central Bank has reported. Advertised property prices rose by 1.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2010, on the back of a 0.5 per cent increase during the previous quarter, according to the Bankââ¬â¢s official figures.
Property prices in Malta on the up
The Times of Malta reports that ââ¬Ëreporting in the Quarterly Review on its ongoing survey of advertised prices, the bank said that disaggregated results showed that the overall increase was primarily due to higher asking prices for apartments and, to a lesser extent, for maisonettes and properties in the ââ¬Ëotherââ¬â¢ category.ââ¬â¢
Prices of apartments rose by 3.4 per cent year on year, accounting for about 0.8 per cent of overall property price inflation. Prices in the ââ¬Ëotherââ¬â¢ category ââ¬â villas, character houses and townhouses ââ¬â rose by 7.1 per cent whilst the prices of maisonettes rose by 2.2 per cent.
Bucking the trend were terraced houses, where the year on year values fell by 6.7 per cent, lowering the overall picture by almost half of one per cent.
Annual decline ââ¬Ëcoming to an endââ¬â¢ as numbers of building permits rise
The Central Bank report said: “Available information regarding the supply of advertised properties for sale suggests that the annual decline seems to be coming to an end, with the number of properties for sale during the third quarter remaining almost unchanged when compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
“Furthermore, following several quarters of consecutive falls, the number of building permits issued by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority rose by 4.3 per cent year-on-year. Permits issued for apartments, which account for around three-fourths of the total, rose by 6.8 per cent, while permits for the ââ¬Ëotherââ¬â¢ category also contributed to the rise. The increase in these categories offset the decline in permits issued for maisonettes.”
