Residential Property Transactions: August 2024
This news release presents provisional data on residential property sale transactions based on the date of registration with the tax authority.
Final deeds of sale
In August 2024, the number of final deeds of sale relating to residential property amounted to 957, a decrease of 3.4 per cent when compared to those registered in August 2023 (Table 1a, Chart 1). The value of these deeds totalled €264.4 million, representing a decrease of 5.1 per cent when compared to the corresponding value recorded in August 2023 (Table 2a).
Chart 1. Registered final deeds of sale and promise of sale agreements
Monthly
No Data Found
In the month under review, 886 (or 92.6 per cent) of these final deeds of sale involved individual buyers (households), with companies accounting for virtually all remaining deeds (Table 1b). The value of the deeds involving individual buyers (households) amounted to €229.3 million, equivalent to 86.7 per cent of the total value (Table 2b).
Final deeds of sale by district and by locality
In August 2024, the highest numbers of final deeds of sale were recorded in the Northern Harbour and the Northern districts, with totals of 256 and 204 deeds, respectively. On the other hand, the lowest numbers were registered in the Western and the South Eastern districts at 101 and 112 deeds, respectively (Table 3).
The highest numbers of final deeds of sale were recorded in the following localities: San Pawl Il-Baħar (86), Il-Mosta (46), Birkirkara (39) and Il-Fgura (39) (Table 4, Chart 2a). The sum of agreements recorded in these localities corresponded to 21.9 per cent of the total final deeds of sale registered during August 2024.
Chart 2a. Localities registering the largest counts in August 2024
Final Deeds of Sale
No Data Found
Properties transacted in the final deeds of sale
During the month under review, the number of properties transacted in the final deeds of sale was equivalent to 1,023 (Table 5). Apartments (366) and Garages (242) accounted for the largest shares, at 35.8 per cent and 23.7 per cent, respectively.
Promise of sale agreements
In August 2024, 1,000 promise of sale agreements relating to residential property were registered, equivalent to an increase of 3.3 per cent over the same period in 2023 (Table 6a, Chart 1). Individual potential buyers (households) accounted for 924 (or 92.4 per cent) of these agreements, while the rest mainly involved companies (Table 6b).
Promise of sale agreements by district and by locality
The largest number of promise of sale agreements related to residential properties were registered in the Northern Harbour district with 277 agreements, followed by the Northern district with 181 agreements. On the other hand, the lowest figures of promise of sale agreements were noted in the Western, and the Gozo and Comino districts, at 99 and 122 agreements, respectively (Table 7).
The highest numbers of promise of sale agreements were recorded in the following localities: San Pawl Il-Baħar (59), Birkirkara (57) and Marsaskala (46) (Table 8, Chart 2b). The sum of agreements recorded in these localities corresponded to 16.2 per cent of the total promise of sale agreements registered during August 2024.
Chart 2b. Localities registering the largest counts in August 2024
Promise of Sale Agreements
No Data Found
Tables
Tables
Residential Property Transactions: August 2024
- The number of final deeds of sale relating to residential property amounted to 957 during August 2024, a decrease of 34 deeds when compared to those registered a year earlier.
- During August 2024, 1,000 promise of sale agreements relating to residential property were registered, an increase of 32 agreements over the same period last year.
- In relation to the amounts registered in August 2023, the final deeds of sale decreased by 3.4 per cent, whereas promise of sale agreements increased by 3.3 per cent.
Residential Property Transactions: August 2024
Methodological Notes
1. This news release presents data on property transactions based on final deeds of sale and promise of sale agreements (‘konvenji’) registered with the tax authority. The qualifier ‘period of registration’ common to the tables refers to such registration. Basing the data on the period when the final deed of sale or promise of sale agreement is registered with the tax authority, rather than when it is signed, is considered to produce more timely information.
2. The scope of this release follows the classification of the administrative data source, and includes only those transactions classified as ‘residential’ by the source. The data presented covers the following property types: airspace, boathouse, bungalow, farmhouse, flat/apartment, garage, garden, house, maisonette, penthouse, plot of land, semi-detached villa, terraced house, ‘terran’, urban tenement, and villa.
3. Excluded are transactions classified as ‘commercial’, comprising of business premises and warehouse/storeroom, and those classified as ‘other’, a category that incorporates car space, field, grave and redemption of ground rent, amongst others.
4. Therefore, deeds/agreements relating to land for residential purposes (‘plot of land’) are included, while those pertaining to land for non-residential purposes (‘field’) are not.
5. Only deeds/agreements relating to the sale of property, which also includes sale by auction (‘subasta’) and sale after assignment of rights, are considered. Therefore, donations and exchanges, amongst others, are not included.
6. In this news release, a promise of sale agreement is accounted for only once, and included at the time of registration with the tax authority. Therefore, if a promise of sale is extended to a later date, that record is excluded from the statistics presented in this news release.
7. In the light of notes 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, this release must be viewed as a sub-set of all the property transactions and activities registered with the tax authority that take place during a given period.
8. In some cases, more than one property is listed under the same final deed of sale or promise of sale agreement. Table 1 to Table 8 (excluding Table 5) of this news release report the number of registered final deeds of sale and promise of sale agreements, and not the number of properties falling under these deeds/agreements. The number of properties falling under the registered final deeds of sale is presented in Table 5. This table cannot be replicated for the promise of sale agreements due to non-availability of data.
9. The residential property transactions considered are not limited to individuals (households), but may also involve other economic agents. Besides individuals, the administrative data source distinguishes between companies, authorities and bodies of persons.
10. The districts and clusters incorporating localities in Tables 3, 4, 7 and 8 correspond to the location of the property which has been or shall be purchased, not to the place of residence of the buyer or seller.
11. To achieve consistency, the methodological concepts used are aligned to the extent possible with the House Price Index concepts.
12. Users are reminded of several factors which might inhibit comparability between data on final deeds of sale and promise of sale agreements. These differences include: a) the time lag between promise of sale agreements and final deeds of sale; b) certain property being sold without a promise of sale agreement; and c) some promise of sale agreements falling through before the final contract is signed.
13. Data is provisional and subject to revisions, which may arise following updates in the source data.
14. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at Classification of Localities by Cluster.
15. A detailed news release calendar is available online.
16. References to this news release are to be cited appropriately. For guidance on access and re-use of data please visit our dedicated webpage.
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