At a glance: sliema is malta’s most wanted hotspot
The coastal town, located on the northeast of the island, accounted for 8.79 per cent of enquiries, more than Malta’s capital, Valletta, which was the subject of 5.51 per cent of searches. Mellieha and Saint Julians were very close behind, attracting 5.48 per cent and 5.27 per cent of searches respectively.
Together, these top four destinations account for 1 in 4 (25.05 per cent) of all Maltese real estate searches, indicating the demand for property in Malta’s popular harbour.
Indeed, demand for real estate on that Coast continues throughout the buying process, with Malta’s Southern Harbour region accounting for 29.56 per cent of all Maltese enquiries. The Northern Harbour follows in third place with 19.55 per cent of enquiries, just behind the Northern region, which generated 21.6 per cent. Buyers were least interested in property on Gozo, with the Gozo and Camino’s region accounting for just 5.9 per cent of enquiries.
Despite the Southern Harbour’s popularity, the region only accounted for two of the top 10 most-searched destinations. The Northern region, in contrast, is home to 5 of the top 10 (Mellieha, Mosta, Naxxar, Bugibba and Ghargur, taking up 17.98 per cent of all searches). Mellieha attracted enough attention to generate 8.79 per cent of enquiries - making it the second most popular destination in the country - but Sliema stole the show, taking 12.58 per cent of enquiries.
The At a Glance infographic also tracks search trends on Google over the past year. The most common search terms were “Malta property”, “property for sale in Malta” and “property in Malta”, while keywords such as “Maltese property” occurred in almost no searches at all. Houses were the most popular type of property, followed by apartments. “Villas for sale in Malta” and “land for sale in Malta”, on the other, appeared in no searches.
Searches for three most common phrases stayed steady during 2012 until the final quarter, when activity dropped by 21 per cent. Searches surged again in the first quarter of 2013, though, by 27 per cent to even higher levels.
Editor Ivan Radford comments: “Sliema has long been one of Malta’s most popular tourism destinations but it is clear to see its appeal extends all the way through the buying process, from initial attraction to the enquiry stage. Because Malta’s districts are only used for statistical purposes, buyers searching for property in Malta may often just search across the country in general rather than for individual towns: it is perhaps no surprise, therefore, that hotspots such as Sliema and the capital city Valletta dominate due to their familiarity with overseas visitors. It’s also interesting to see that after a mostly steady 2012, interest in Maltese property has increased in the first three months of 2013 - a sign that house hunters are still interested in the islands’ real estate, with demand no doubt boosted by concern over Cyprus and the eurozone.”
Notes to Editors
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