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
March 2023
In March 2023, the number of final deeds of sale relating to residential property amounted to 1,036, a 12.9 per cent decrease when compared to those registered a year earlier (Table 1a). The value of these deeds totalled €249.1 million, representing a drop of 4.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding value recorded in March 2022 (Table 2a).
In the month under review, 963, or 93.0 per cent, of these final deeds of sale involved individual buyers (households), with companies accounting for virtually all the rest (Table 1b). The value of the deeds involving individual buyers (households) amounted to €207.1 million, equivalent to 83.1 per cent of the total value (Table 2b).
Final deeds of sale by district and by locality
In March 2023, the highest numbers of final deeds of sale were recorded in the Northern Harbour District and the Northern District, registering a total of 322 and 239 deeds, respectively. At 82 and 122 deeds, the lowest numbers were recorded in the Western District and the Southern Harbour District, respectively (Table 3).
Chart 1. Registered final deeds of sale
Monthly
No Data Found
The highest number of final deeds of sale were recorded in the following localities: San Pawl il-Baħar (97), Il-Mosta (55), Ħaż-Żabbar (41) and Birkirkara (40) (Chart 2a). The sum of contracts recorded in these localities corresponded to more than 22.0 per cent of the total final deeds of sale registered during March 2023.
Chart 2a. Localities registering the largest counts in March 2023
Final Deeds of Sale
No Data Found
Q1/2023
In the first quarter of 2023, 3,088 final deeds of sale were registered, an annual decrease of 9.4 per cent (Table 1a). The value of the deeds registered during this period went up by 3.2 per cent over the same quarter of the previous year and amounted to €789.9 million (Table 2a). The highest numbers of final deeds of sale were recorded in the localities of San Pawl Il-Baħar (262), L-Imsida (126) and Il-Mosta (117) (Table 7).
Promise of sale agreements
March 2023
In March 2023, 1,172 promise of sale agreements relating to residential property were registered, equivalent to an increase of 5.3 per cent over the previous year (Table 4a). Individual potential buyers (households) accounted for 1,058 or 90.3 per cent, of these agreements, while the rest mainly involved companies (Table 4b).
Promise of sale agreements by district and by locality
The largest number of promise of sale agreements related to residential properties in the Northern Harbour District with 369 agreements, followed by the Northern District with 201 agreements. On the other hand, the lowest figures of promise of sale agreements were noted in the Western District, and the Gozo and Comino District, at 115 and 143 agreements, respectively (Table 5).
The highest numbers of promise of sale agreements were recorded in the following localities: San Pawl il-Baħar (84), Birkirkara (61), San Ġiljan (53) and Il-Mosta (47) (Chart 2b). The sum of agreements recorded in these localities exceeded 20.0 per cent of the total amount of promise of sale agreements registered during March 2023.
Chart 2b. Localities registering the largest counts in March 2023
Promise of Sale Agreements
No Data Found
Q1/2023
In the first quarter of 2023, the number of promise of sale agreements reached 3,125, representing an annual increase of 14.0 per cent (Table 4a). The highest numbers of promise of sale agreements were recorded in the localities of San Pawl Il-Baħar (252), Birkirkara (166), and Il-Mosta (133) (Table 9).
Additional Tables and Charts
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 the light of notes 2, 3, 4 and 5, 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.
7. In some cases, more than one property is listed under the same final deed of sale or promise of sale agreement. This release reports the number of registered final deeds of sale and promise of sale agreements, and not the number of properties falling under these deeds/agreements.
8. 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.
9. The districts, clusters and localities referred to in this news release 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.
10. To achieve consistency, the methodological concepts used are aligned to the extent possible with the House Price Index concepts.
11. 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.
12. Data is provisional and subject to revisions, which may arise following updates in the source data.
- More information relating to this news release may be accessed at Classification of Localities by Cluster.
- References to this news release are to be cited appropriately.
- A detailed news release calendar is available online.
- The number of final deeds of sale relating to residential property amounted to 1,036 during March 2023, a decrease of 154 deeds when compared to those registered a year earlier.
- During March 2023, 1,172 promise of sale agreements relating to residential property were registered, an increase of 59 agreements over the same period last year.
