€3.3 billion worth of property sold last year

Property sales hit €3.3 billion last year, an increase of €86.9 million, despite a slight decline in final deeds of sale, figures out today show.

Last year closed with total property sales hitting 14,305, a decline of 63 over 2021, the National Statistics Office said.

Of these, 13,079, or 91.4%, were residential properties involving individual buyers. The value of residential properties that exchanged hands stood at €2.7 billion, 84% of the total value of final deeds of sale.

A quarterly breakdown of numbers shows that property sales decreased by 4.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022 but the value of sales increased marginally when compared to 2021.

The NSO said 3,738 final deeds of sale were registered in the last three months of 2022, a decline of 158 over the same quarter of the previous year.

The value of the property sold in the fourth quarter stood at €859.3 million, an increase of 0.1% over the same period in the previous year.

The NSO said the highest number of final deeds of sale during the fourth quarter were recorded in Gozo and the northern harbour region comprising Birkirkara, Gżira, Msida, Ta’ Xbiex and San Ġwann, with 600 and 467 deeds respectively.

The lowest number of deeds were noted in the Cottonera region comprising Birgu, Isla, Bormla and Kalkara; and the central region comprising Attard, Balzan, Iklin and Lija. In these regions, 82 and 101 deeds respectively were recorded.

The highest fourth quarter annual increase was registered in the Cottonera region at 43.9%. The largest annual decreases were observed in the central region and the northern region of Mosta and Naxxar with declines of 21.1% and 20.1%, respectively.

Promise of sale agreements concluded throughout the fourth quarter of 2022 reached 3,357, an annual decrease of 27.2% when compared to the same period a year earlier.

The largest number of promise of sale agreements corresponded to residential properties in the northern harbour region and Gozo, totalling 454 and 416, respectively.

The lowest number of promise of sale agreements were noted in the Cottonera and the central region.