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Showing posts from June, 2010

The Villa Madama auction

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Something is clearly amiss. A landmark property has just gone under the hammer, selling at an unbelievable price when compared to other properties. But here's the quandary. Can such a property be benchmarked at all? My starting point is pretty basic. How many upmarket apartments can be bartered for this well maintained landmark property of historical value located next door to the President of Malta's palace?The shocking answer seems to indicate not even two.

No excavations and demolition works in summer - MRRA

The Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs (MRRA), has published a list of streets in Malta and Gozo, within touristic areas, wherein no excavation or demolition works will be allowed between 15 June and 30th September 2010. The tourist areas are those defined by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA). The ban also includes all of Comino. Click here for the street list as published by MRRA.

Salubrious Thoughts (2)

There are three major and recurring headaches here in Malta. First on the list is a lagging tourism industry, certainly not entirely due to the global recession. A lot is still lacking from MTA (Malta Tourism Authority), most especially in upkeeping the discipline within its ranks.  One need only drive past the St. Andrew’s Coast road, past Bugibba and Xemxija to witness the number of hoteliers who simply closed shop, abandoned ship and stripped their hotels to mere and unsightly frames, leaving the shell form skeletons to fester along the main routes, some of them for years on end. Forum Hotel, White Rocks Complex, Xemxija Bay Hotel and Mistra Village Complex are a few that come to mind.

Property in Malta - Google Insight trend line

Malta property prices - Central Bank quarterly review 2010

Earlier today 10th June, the Central Bank of Malta released its 1st. Quarterly Review for 2010, analysing the economic and financial developments for Q4 2009 and Q1 2010. Of particular importance to us ofcourse, is the snapshot this provides of the property market during this period. The Central Bank's residential price index is based upon the advertised residential property prices compiled monthly from newspaper adverts. Therefore this report has to be interpreted together with the National Statistics Office (NSO) Quarterly report, which is published separately and which compiles monthly information drawn from contracts of sale registered with the Inland Revenue Department. However the latest NSO quarterly report is for Q1 2009. Further analysis is also required to interpret Chart 2 within the CBM Q1 2010 report, which plots the annual percentage change in residential prices by category, with percentage change on the y-axis and the time period spanning Q1 2007 to Q4 2009 on th

Sliema, summer and surf!

Summer's in the air. Blue sky, slight breeze, and the mercury thread hitting 23 degrees Celsius. We had a couple of overnight showers last week, but early yesterday morning the local council had some workers spread along the Sliema coast, bolting swim-ladders to the Tower Road foreshore; and that means a thumbs-up for the swimming season to open in earnest.  The stretch of shore beneath the Tower Road promenade is just the place for sunbathing in Sliema. A flat limestone stretch punctuated at comfortably distant intervals with low sometimes circular natural rock basins perfect for a beach-towel and a comfortable lie-back; but the water's edge by comparison makes for some tricky manouvering and the best method by far to go down for a dip is via one of the several swim-ladders dotting this part of the coast in summer.