FINWIRE®

Tourism increase helps Malta property sales

September 2nd, 2007

An estimated seven per cent rise in the tourists’ arrival in Malta this year is helping to fuel a buoyant property market in the country, which had already been adjusting to new opportunities with regard to the Malta’s entry into the Euro in January 2008.

The opening up of the skies over Malta to operators such as Ryanair is helping Malta to reverse a decline in the traditional package holiday trade. As a result, sales of property in Malta have continued apace with 80 per cent of the properties in one development sold within hours.

Ray Woods, a spokesman for www.maltabuyproperty.co.uk said that in July, over 60 per cent of residential property sales made though their associates in Malta came from overseas buyers, with the majority from the UK. This compares with a year round average of 30-40 per cent.

He added: “The great thing about the Malta property market is that domestic demand is fundamentally strong. The Maltese love to invest in property and there is reportedly a lot of Maltese Lira under beds looking for a home before the Euro is adopted as the national currency. Everyone expects 2007 to be a boom year. The population is increasing steadily and planning controls are likely to restrict future development.”

Investing in property is still seen by many as a relatively difficult and risky business – and some TV programmes have created unease about the security of land rights in some European countries. Malta by contrast is seen as a relatively safe and stress free location Country and its attraction has been increased by its membership of the EU.

Properties in Malta have increased in value by an average of 8% per annum, accelerating to 15% in the last 3-4 years.

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