Malta is one of the 25 most affordable housing markets worldwide, according to a Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI) study published by premier real estate provider Coldwell Banker. However a report published in Business Week hinted that this could be due to the fact that the country has not yet joined the euro area.
Apart from 317 American housing markets, the 2007 HPCI study evaluated affordability in 77 international housing markets in 28 nations outside the US.
The most expensive studied international markets included (prices converted to US dollars as of 7 September this year): Dublin ($2.13 million), Milan ($1.91 million), Rome ($1.79 million) and Paris ($1.67 million),
On the other hand, the most affordable international market tracked was Bogotá, Colombia, at $140,100, followed closely by Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt ($144,896) and Granada, Nicaragua ($190,000).
Other places featuring on the list of most affordable housing markets were Panama City ($201,333), Manana-Muharraq ($230,500), Aruba ($236,250), Guadalajara, Mexico ($246,522) and St Julian’s, Malta ($255,500).
Other locations in Malta included in this study, which were found to be slightly more expensive, but still among the most affordable were Attard ($274,200) and Marsascala ($294,250).
These housing markets were still found to be cheaper than others in eastern and south-eastern European countries like Poland, Romania and Turkey, although Gdansk in Poland, also features among the study’s 25 most affordable markets.
Photographs of the three housing markets in Malta included in the study also feature in a slideshow that is currently among one of Business Week’s most popular multimedia items at www.business week.com.
An article published on the same website, entitled "Affordable Homes Abroad", states: "In Europe, countries that have recently joined the European Union but are not yet on the euro currency abound with real estate bargains.
"Both Poland and Malta joined the EU in May 2004. (Malta is set to convert to the euro in 2008). Gdansk, Poland, and three Maltese markets (St Julian’s, Attard, and Marsascala) count themselves among the 25 most affordable international markets, according to the Coldwell Banker survey."
Other EU housing markets included in the study were France, Ireland, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Romania and Spain, all of which are much more expensive and which all form part of the euro area apart from Romania.