The safest investment on the Maltese Islands is property. The property market in Malta is totally different from any other, in that so far we never had a drop in the value of property but a steady capital growth of between 6 - 20% per annum, naturally this is dependent on the property type and location. Also you have to appreciate that we have a very limited stocks and shares market, therefore the majority of Maltese invest in property.

Local property prices have been going up by between 6% and 10% annually since the 1960's but escalated between 15% and 20%. The European Mortgage Federation ( EMF ) report says that property prices increased by 10.45% in 2003. The lowest rise since 1995 - 3.2%- was registered in 1999. Property prices rose by 7.3% in 2000, by 5.9% in 2001 and by 8.3% in 2002.

Why is property in Malta such a good investment? You have to appreciate that Malta is a very very small country (17 miles by 9 miles), leaving us with the net effect that land is a very limited resource. Therefore, by virtue of the basic economic concept of supply and demand, we have a situation where our land is a dwindling resource whereas our local demand is on the increase due to population growth. However, we must not forget that since Malta joined the European Union on the 1st May 2004, the demand from non-Maltese has increased dramatically, furthermore, one must not forget that Libya is opening up to the western world and this has left a very positive impact on the local property market since a number of international companies are setting up base in Malta, where their families can live a western life style and they travel to Libya every week. Apart from the above, we must also bear in mind that two major low cost airlines are in negotiations with the Malta International Airport to start operating to Malta, thus enhancing the accessibility to the Islands.