For the year 2023, Commercial Letting requests made up for the overwhelming majority of all our commercial client’s enquiries with Commercial Sales increasing slightly in the year 2022 and more so in 2023. The following is Perry Commercial Hub’s observations and outlook for 2024 for different commercial property by category: 1.

1. Class 4A Offices Class 4A

• The introduction of Flexible Hours and work from home has increased the demand for smaller offices due to Hybrid issues.

• However, offices which are highly finished and offer amenities such as availability of easily accessible parking as well as proximity to catering establishments and retail outlets remains in high demand and have kept their overall pricing. 

• Offices which do not have good parking options, and which have not been refurbished recently have seen a reduction in price in 2023 and this trend expected to continue further in 2024.

• In fourth quarter in 2023, we have experienced a strong increase in demand for offices from the gaming sector ranging from 200sqm up to a 1,000sqm and we hope that this trend will continue into next year.

2. Warehouses Class 5 (use for industrial requirements) and Class 6 (use for storage)

• Overall demand for warehouses remains higher than supply with rates per sqm remaining robust and range from €60 per sqm to€130 per sqm.

• Higher prices are sought for warehouses which offer:

- Higher ceilings from 4m to 6m heights and over.

- Accessibility from a wide entrance on the ground floor which allows easy loading and unloading.

- Large goods lifts are becoming more popular which allows easy access to floors above and below ground floor.

- Central locations which are located close to arterial roads are fetching higher rates.

- Locations which have difficult loading/unloading are fetching lower rates.

- Locations which are located in residential areas usually fetch lower rates.

3. Catering Establishments Class 4C and 4D

• Demand in most sought after areas such as Sliema, St Julian’s and Valletta remains high.

• Rates vary from €200 per sqm to over €600 per sqm.

• Higher rates for:

- Larger outside area

- Modern kitchen

- Separate bar area

- High footfall

- Goodwill depends of proven record of sales generated in recent period.

4. Hotels and Guest Houses – Class 3A and 3B

• Rates vary depending on the location, amenities, classification, and overall finishing.

• Rates are usually higher in locations such as St Julian’s, Valletta and the three Cities and are usually lower in areas such as Buġibba, Sliema (especially without sea views) and Gżira.

• Brand new properties lease for a higher rate than others which are even a few years old due to the high wear and tear of these properties.

5. Schools, Nurseries and Day Care Centres  – Class 2C

• Rates are highly dependent on outside space and internal yards due to high compliance issues.

• Large ground floor area fetches higher rates.

• Area where no other childcare/school is available are highly sought after.

• Central areas remain win high demand

• High demand is also fuelled by Government and European Union grants and incentives.

6. Retail outlets Class 4B

• Main High street areas such as Valletta, Sliema and St Julian’s with high footfall have continued to demand the highest rates per sqm and this trend is expected to continue in 2024.

• Buġibba, Paola and Fgura have seen a small decrease in rates and this trend is expected to continue in 2024.

• Ħamrun has experienced a small increase in rates in 2023 with 2024 looking stable with no further increases expected.

• Also highly sought after, are retail outlets within malls and shopping centers offering a healthy mix of different retail choices, catering establishments as well as easy parking. This trend is expected to increase in the short and long term. 

7. Gyms – Class 3C

• The most important issue is the availability of parking within the premises due to compliance issues.

• Other options could also include the possibility to also have external parking attached to the premises.

• Rates of already established gyms are usually finally higher.

• Locations such as St Julian’s, and Sliema fetch higher rates.

In conclusion, even though overall,  the Commercial Property market remains robust in 2024, the feedback from clients has been that there are a number of commercial properties which are available on the market and have not been refurbished with even a basic new coat  of paint or have modern sanitary facilities and still expect to charge the higher rate per sqm being charged on similar new properties.