Residential property sales fell significantly in June when compared to last year, official statistics show.

Data released by the National Statistics Office on Tuesday showed that final deeds of sale of residential property were down by 18.1 per cent last month when compared to June 2022, with the total value of those deeds (€248.2 million) down 12 per cent.

A total of 978 property sales were registered that month. Individual buyers were involved in 93 per cent of those property transfers, though those deeds amounted to a smaller proportion – 75.1 per cent – of the total value of final deeds of sale that month.

The June drop in final deeds reflects a longer-term decline in residential property sales registered in the second quarter of the year. According to NSO figures, final deeds of sale were down 16.3 per cent between April and June when compared to the same period in 2022.

However, the total value of those 2,987 final deeds was down by a less drastic 4 per cent, amounting to €763.5 million.

 Promise of sale agreements

While final deeds of sale were down, there was a slight increase in the number of promise of sale agreements registered in June, which were up 5 per cent over June 2022.

An NSO infographic on residential property transactions.

Individual potential buyers accounted for 91.1 per cent of those agreements, while the rest mainly involved companies.

In the second quarter of 2023, the number of promise of sale agreements reached 3,505, representing an annual increase of 8.6%.

St Paul’s Bay tops the property charts.

Most residential real estate transactions happened in St Paul’s Bay, the NSO figures showed.

The town – Malta’s most populous – led in both final deeds of sale and promise of sale transactions in June.

The highest number of final deeds of sale were recorded in St Paul’s Bay (102), Qormi (43), Żabbar (38) and Marsascala (38). The sum of agreements recorded in these localities corresponded to 22.6% of the total final deeds of sale registered in June. 

St Paul’s Bay also topped the list when assessing final deeds of sale in all of Q2 2023, with 268. Birkirkara (130) and Marsascala (122) were second and third, respectively.

The highest numbers of promise of sale agreements in June were recorded in St Paul’s Bay (84), Birkirkara (56) and Qormi (47). For all of Q2, St Paul’s Bay again came in first (316), followed by Birkirkara (157) and Mosta (131).