Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1472080
9 EDITORIAL BusinessToday is published every Thursday. The newspaper is a MediaToday publication and is distributed to all leading stationers, business and financial institutions and banks. MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EDITOR: PAUL COCKS BusinessToday, MediaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN9016, Malta Newsroom email: bt@mediatoday.com.mt Advertising: afarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Telephone: 00356 21 382741 A Grantornton study in conjunction with real estate agency Dhalia reveals that a home in Malta that would have sold for €100,000 in 2013 now costs €200,000 on the local property market. House prices in 2022 are double what they were in 2013, and were it not for the COVID-19 pandemic and political crisis, that price hike would have continued. Prices are currently on the increase especially in specific sectors such a villas, maisonettes and farmhouses, where availability is lim- ited. But on the whole, every type of property has seen a very small increase. An increased work force featuring mostly foreign workers has pushed rental prices up to a record 42% over the past nine years. erefore a property that would have been rented out for €500 a month in 2013 would be rented out for €800 a month in 2019. With the onset of COVID-19, most rental prices suffered a decline in 2020 with the majority of properties rented out for between 5% and 30% less than the previous year. Nonetheless it is clear that property remains at the heart of invest- ment for many Maltese since there is a relative stability in property prices. However there is an upward trend in prices due to incremen- tal construction and finishing costs. By 2021, incremental demand turned positive again - a shift driven by first-time buyers, a growing foreign-born population, and a recov- ering tourism industry. A cursory look at PA permits being issued, indicates that there will be significant addition to the supply stock in the next two years. e Grantornton report forecasts a slowdown in additional housing supply as the housing sector is hit by inflation. e average cost of raw materials for construction reportedly increased by 30% to 40% compared to the pre-pandemic period. In addition to this, the European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates in response to high rates of inflation, affecting the rate at which investors can borrow to finance their property purchases. Which means that for the buyer to continue buying, their income has to increase. In 2021, the number of final deeds and promise-of-sale (POS) agreements signed rose back to pre-pandemic levels. ese particular studies are useful in planning economic strate- gic policy for the future. And the government would benefit from starting to approach this subject from a purely economic perspec- tive, paying particular attention to the way the world is changing and raising its standard in quality, environmental standards and spatial development. Property at the heart of Maltese investment 30.6.2022