Property prices in Malta were down by 4.2 per cent in the first three months of this year compared to the last three months of last year – but they are still 6.5 per cent more than they were in the first three months of 2018.

The National Statistics Office and Eurostat both issued their reports on Wednesday, with the former only giving the annual change and the latter giving both quarter-on-quarter and annual.

Eurostat reported that house prices had gone up by 4 per cent in the EU and in the eurozone, when compared with the first quarter of 2018, with the highest annual increases being see in Hungary (11.3%), Czechia (9.4% and Portugal (9.2%). Only Italy saw a decrease.

When it comes to comparisons with the previous quarter, the largest decrease was that in Malta, with five other countries – UK, Ireland, Finalnd, Italy and Germany – being the only other member states to see prices drop.

The NSO said that prices went up for both apartments (7.3%) and, to a lesser extent, maisonettes (3.6%).