In just a decade the average price of a property in Malta has more than doubled from €150,000 to €333,000, while rental prices soared by 71%. The trend which emerged from a periodic study by renowned auditing firm Grant Thornton in collaboration with Dhalia Real Estate Services, echoes the conclusions of a recent exercise carried out by UHM Voice of the Workers.

Though the former was a much more thorough exercise involving a deep analysis of tens of thousands of observations, the conclusions were very close to an analysis which UHM carried out on a sample of property prices advertised in The Times of Malta in 2015 and 2025. In the latter case the average price of a flat rose from €142,000 in 2015 to €326,000 in 2025.

Furthermore, the UHM report which want back to 1975 indicated a sudden sharp rise in prices from 2015 onwards – a spike which coincided with the rapid population growth registered in the last decade. The Grant Thornton/Dhalia report confirmed this was no fluke as it outlined population growth among key elements which impacted demand and supply in the property market, which in turn affect prices and rental rates.

The report also cautions that poor urban planning to cater for population growth might result in traffic congestion, waste management issues, disturbances, locals being prices out of the rental market and uncontrolled construction. It is fair to say that some might even argue that these concerns might already be manifesting themselves in certain parts of the country.

Ironically, economic growth was also cited as a possible reason for property price increase, as higher household income translates to higher aspirations to improve one’s living conditions, hence increasing housing demand. Another factor was Malta’s relatively low interest rates which kept mortgage repayment instalment stable, as well as tourism. In the latter case, the report says that the increase in the number of tourists fuelled a demand for more properties for private short-term accommodation, such as Airbnb, and hence limited the available housing stock.

Undoubtedly, a major factor which had an impact on the property market was the sudden rise in construction costs particularly in 2021 as a result of Covid-19 supply chain disruptions and subsequently the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This led to a 33.9% rise over the two-year period between 2020 and 2022.

Other findings:

  • Between 2018 and 2024, apartments consistently remained the most sold property type, with 4,923 final deeds of sale, followed by garages, with 3,052
  • The sale of plots of land, airspaces, boathouses, gardens and urban tenements continued to decline, maintaining the downward trend observed in previous years
  • The 2021 Census of Population and Housing, published by the NSO, identified a total of 297,304 dwellings, marking a nation-wide increase of 32.8% since the previous Census conducted in 2011.
  • In terms of property types, terraced houses were historically more prevalent. Although the gap between terraced houses and other types of residences diminished over time, they represented 39.6% of all properties before 2001, followed by maisonettes (27.2%) and flats or penthouses (26.1%). By 2021, the situation changed up to the point that flats and penthouses constituted 52.7% of the total housing stock at the time, with the divergence away from traditional properties such as terraced houses continuing to widen
  • Government incentives need to be handled with care, as excessive support can be counterproductive in the sense that it might artificially inflate prices.
  • The influx of foreign workers resulted in a rise in rental prices as it significantly increased demand and priced out the Maltese from areas such as Sliema, Valletta and Cospicua.
  • The most expensive localities in terms of property prices per square metre are Valletta, Floriana, Sliema and St Julians while Zurrieq, Mqabba and Kirkop and Gozo are the cheapest.
  • The most expensive localities in terms of property rentals per square metre are Sliema, St Julians, Swieqi, Tal-Ibragg, Bahar ic-Caghaq while Birzebbuga, Marsaskala, Marsaxlokk and Gozo are the cheapest.