House prices in Malta rose by 41.6% between 2010 and 2020, Statistics issued by Eurostat show.

Malta’s price rise is steeper than the EU average, which rose by 26% during the same period.

Looking at the trend in house prices between 2010 and 2020 in the EU, there has been a steady upwards trend since 2013 with particularly large increases between 2015 and 2020.  In Malta, the steep rise began in 2014.

“There were increases in 23 Member States and decreases in three (data for Greece was not available) over this period. The largest increases were observed in Estonia (+108 %), Hungary (+91 %), Luxembourg (+89 %), Latvia (+81 %) and Austria (+77 %), while decreases were registered in Italy (-15 %), Spain (-5 %) and Cyprus (-4 %).”

In terms of rents, Malta registered a 23.7% increase between 2010 and 2020, which is higher than the EU average rise. “There has been a steady increase of rents in the EU between 2010 and 2020 – in total 14% during the whole period. There was an increase in 25 Member States and a decrease in two. The largest increases were registered in Estonia (+145%), Lithuania (+107%) and Ireland (+63%), while decreases were observed in Greece (-25%) and Cyprus (-5%),” Eurostat said.

Other statistics issued by Eurostat show that 81.9% of people in Malta live in households owning the property they live in, while the rest (18.1%) are tenants.

“Being an owner or a tenant of your home is something that differs significantly among the Member States. In the EU in 2020, 70% of the population lived in a household owning their home, while the remaining 30% lived in rented housing. The highest shares of ownership were observed in Romania (96% of the population owned their home), Slovakia (92%), Croatia and Hungary (both 91%),” Eurostat said.

Living in a house or a flat also differs among the Member States. In Malta in 2020, 42.5% lived in houses while the rest lived in flats, Eurostat said.

“In the EU in 2020, 53% of the population lived in a house, while 46% lived in a flat (1% lived in other accommodation, such as houseboats, vans etc). Ireland (92%) recorded the highest share of the population living in a house, followed by Croatia (78%), Belgium (77%) and the Netherlands (75%). Houses are most common in over two thirds of the Member States. The highest shares for flats were observed in Spain (66 %), Latvia (65 %), Estonia (61 %), Greece and Lithuania (both 59 %).”

The cost for constructing new residences in the EU has also increased during the period 2010 to 2020, especially since 2016, Eurostat said. “The increase during the whole period was 17 %. Among the Member States, the largest rises were observed in Hungary (+63 %), Romania (+49 %), Latvia (+46 %) and Lithuania (+39 %). Greece was the only Member State to record a decrease (-6 %),” Eurostat said. In Malta, such costs rose by 17.6% between 2010 and 2020.