There are a number of anomalies in today's local property market.

Prices are high and increasingly becoming beyond the reach of certain first-time buyers and middle-income earners, as well as to foreigners who consider buying a holiday home here. The former two sectors form the major part of Maltese property buyers, with the latter certainly contributing in no small way.

Secondly, we have an oversupply and a wide choice of three-bedroomed property units, most of these in the form of apartments and maisonettes. Demand for one/two-bedroom units has increased. So why have more of these not been made available? In addition, their smaller size will help create a more price-affordable market.

Mepa's policies on permitting such property development with reduced internal surface areas should be encouraged.

Nowadays, people are finding it harder to buy in the location of their choice. They are either looking elsewhere, leading at times to wrong purchasing decisions, or buying in their preferred location at a "premium", and/or due to possible "house-searching distress", simply giving up altogether.

One of the reasons why so much property remains vacant could be due to the "higher" selling prices some property owners are demanding. But, seemingly, this is presently resulting in decreased positive selling results than recent years. Unless, of course, asking prices are adjusted accordingly. After considering the above, a few questions inevitably come to mind.

How long will this situation last? Is there an end to it, or not? Does the theory of market forces apply when either a buyers' or sellers' market knowingly exists? Do we recognise and accept such market forces as taking place at all? Do they co-exist?

On the one hand we have demand for property from the many buyers present out there. Be there no mistake about that. On the other, although numerous apartment blocks and maisonette clusters are being developed and flooding the market in the process, sellers' property asking prices keep soaring, thus creating a more acute affordability problem, and distorting genuine buyer-demand trends.

High-value upmarket properties are appreciating at a fast rate too. This could genuinely be attributed to the fact that availability of such property types is becoming more limited.

Generally, today, property available to satisfy average requirements of first-time buyers costs anything between Lm40,000 and Lm80,000. And for second-time buyers and/or middle-income earners this ranges from Lm90,000 to Lm200,000, bearing in mind a property with a medium-sized garden of sorts (maybe with space for a pool) will cost over Lm200,000 in certain, but not limited, island locations.

This situation is causing difficulties for buyers in that it is restricting them from getting on the property ladder and/or go higher, thus, shattering any aspirations for the numerous genuine house hunters and "growing" families.

Foreigners in search of holiday homes face the same price predicament and some end up choosing other more competitive Mediterranean countries for their property investment.

The ever-present five per cent stamp duty rate imposed on home purchases (less Lm450 from that calculated tally for local residential buyers), capital gains' tax borne by certain property sellers and brokers'/agents' introductory fees do not help matters either. Together with today's higher property price tags, these factors are contributing more to the increased purchase-cost's negative impact now than ever before.

Only time will tell. Or will it?

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