Especially over the last decade there has been a sharp increase in property purchased by foreigners. Infact between 1998 - 2003 there was an average of 41% increase in foreigners purchasing each year. With the Maltese Islands joining the European Union in 1st May 2004, there was a consistant growth in foreign purchases. It is evident that the largest share of the foreign market is from Great Britain followed by Continental Europe. Infact, the British market averages at 70% of the foreign purchases.

Interesting to note is that from 2001 till 2005 the type of property receiving most interest from foreigners were :
60% - Apartments
28% - Terraced Houses
12% - Other types

The areas most sought after in Malta is the northern part including : St. Pauls` Bay, Qawra, Bugibba and Mellieha followed by Sliema, St. Julians and other central areas. Whilst in Gozo the most popular villages are Xaghra, Gharb, Qala and Sannat. Property sales to the Maltese have also been on the increase over the last decade.

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.

The EMF statistics show that local property prices recorded the highest percentage rise among the 25 EU member states in 2004. The figures show that property prices in Malta increased by an average of 18.8% in 2004.

In 2003 the total value of property sold was 320,421,231 which increased to 402,866,602 in 2004. Whilst in 2005 the total value of property sold was 441,722,708.