Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/702141
7 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 JULY 2016 News Foreign property buyers more than double in 2015 MAT THEW VELLA THE year 2015 was a bumper year for property sales involv- ing foreign buyers who have relocated to Malta or sought to acquire a property as part of the conditions to buy citizenship under the Individual Investor Programme. Data presented in the House of Representatives shows that in 2015, a total of €189.4 million in property was sold to foreign buyers, comprising a total of 280 units. That represents a massive 167% jump over 2014, when 208 units were sold for a total of €70.7 million to foreign buyers. In the four years between 2012 and 2015, just over €400 million was sold to foreign buyers with some 1,000 properties. The record foreign sales of 2015 represent 9% of the to- tal €2 billion worth of property stock that was registered in 15,557 contracts of sale in 2015. That itself was a 35% increase over 2013, when just over 12,000 contracts were registered for some €1.3 billion. Under Labour since 2013, the key factors fuelling property de- mand have been first-time buy- ers' incentives, the IIP scheme that fuels demand for high-end property, as well as increased migration of foreign workers. Property prices shot up by 9.9% this year compared to the January-March 2015 period, ac- cording to the Central Bank's index of advertised prices for resi¬dential property. This followed an increase of 10% during the final quarter of 2015. "Property demand is being prompted by strong growth in dispos¬able income in the con- text of a robust labour market, an increasing number of for- eigners working in Malta, as well as the low interest environ- ment," the Central Bank said. The IIP, which sells Maltese citizenship to the global rich for €650,000 apart from property and stock acquisition require- ments totalling €400,000, was also responsible for pushing up revenues for the Maltese gov- ernment. The observed strong growth rates in advertised property prices at the turn of 2016 reflect rapid increases in the prices of maisonettes and terraced hous- es, which rose by 13.6% and 19.6%, respectively during the first quarter of 2016. Similarly, prices in the "other" properties category, which con- sists of town houses, houses of character and vil¬las, grew by 7.7% when compared with a year earlier. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Property sold to foreign buyers jumped by a massive 167% to a total of €189 million in stock sold Portomaso's Lagoon apartments: offered on plan for €1.9 million