The cost of residential properties increased between July and September last year, the Central Bank said.

Prices grew by an annual rate of 1.6 per cent compared with 1.1 per cent in the previous quarter, the Bank said.

The increases were across all the main categories of property, though a faster growth was recorded in the prices of terraced houses, town houses, houses of character and villas.

In the third quarter of 2013, the price of apartments, which make up almost three-fifths of properties in the sample surveyed, increased by 1.9 per cent. This followed a 2.2 per cent rise in the period between April and June.

Asking prices for maisonettes increased at a slower rate compared with the second quarter of 2013.

Activity was measured by the number of advertised properties and development permits approved

Between July and September, these went up by 3.9 per cent, following a 15.5 per cent growth spike in the April to June period.

Prices for terraced houses rose by 9.6 per cent, following a drop of 2.6 per cent in the second quarter.

Activity in the housing market was measured by the number of advertised properties and permits approved for development.

In the third quarter of last year, the number of advertised properties in the bank’s survey was 1.4 per cent lower than the same period last year, after a 0.3 per cent rise in the second quarter.

The overall drop mirrored fewer adverts for apartments and houses of character, which outweighed increases in adverts for terraced houses and maisonettes.

Meanwhile, the number of development permits issued by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority between July and September picked up strongly, increasing by 14.8 per cent after a marginal fall of 0.2 per cent in the previous quarter.

Apartments accounted for more than half of the year-on-year increase in permits, the bank said, while more were also granted for maisonettes, terraced houses and villas.