Great interest in Maltese properties by Swedish investors.

Great interest in Maltese properties by Swedish investors.

Propertyline International has returned from a very successful property exhibition, held in the Swedish capital Stockholm over a weekend in September. A large number of international property companies took the opportunity to present what they can offer in the most sought after holiday markets around the world and the number of visitors was high, considering that it was one of the hottest and sunniest weekends for a long time.

Nic Ashby, Senior Sales Consultant for Propertyline International, attended the exhibition and says - "We are very happy with the response from the public and how interested the Swedish public is in Malta as both a holiday destination as well as considering moving here full time. The people who came to visit our stand had all done their home work and are seriously interested in buying property here. I guess that the nice weather made them wanting to realise there dreams of warmer climates, now that the Swedish winter is on the doorstep".

The stand was joint a venture between Propertyline International and their Swedish real estate partner, BM Koch Fastighetsbyra who specialise in assisting their clients finding dream homes in the sun.

Trafford Busuttil, Managing Director of Propertyline International says - "It is delight to see that so many people from that part of the world, showing a keen interest in Malta and our signing with BM Koch as our business partners shows our commitment to the market. We are looking forward to a long and successful relationship with them and together we can offer full service menu to the clients, and it is all in Swedish with our Swedish speaking staff".

Many of the exhibitors from other countries were surprised by the large interest in the Maltese Islands. It is clear that Malta is now becoming much more known as a country and holiday destination, some of it can be traced back to the Maltese singer, Kevin Borg, winning the Swedish Pop Idol contest earlier this year. He has quickly become a household name and is promoting his home country whenever he can.

"Even though we work with many different countries, Malta has always had a warm place in our hearts and we are looking forward to helping many more clients discovering all that the Islands have to offer, such as the weather, the culture, the people and the easy access for example", says Britt-Mari Koch, Managing Director of BM Koch Fastighetsbyra.

WELCOME ON BOARD

We take this opportunity to welcome aboard Paul Mifsud who is going to be based in the Qawra Office as a Rental Consultant. Whilst we wish Paul the very best in his new career, I am sure that all of us will do our utmost to make him feel at home and part of the Propertyline TEAM.

WELCOME ON BOARD

We take this opportunity to welcome aboard Josette Hammenborn who is going to be based in the St Julians Office as a Rental Consultant. Whilst we wish Josette the very best in her new career, I am sure that all of us will do our utmost to make her feel at home and part of the Propertyline TEAM.

WELCOME ON BOARD

We take this opportunity to welcome aboard Marita Xuereb who is going to be based in the Gozo Office as a Salea & Rental Consultant.
Whilst we wish Marita the very best in her new career, I am sure that all of us will do our utmost to make her feel at home and part of the Propertyline TEAM.

Great interest in Maltese properties by Swedish investors.

Propertyline International has returned from a very successful property exhibition, held in the Swedish capital Stockholm over a weekend in September. A large number of international property companies took the opportunity to present what they can offer in the most sought after holiday markets around the world and the number of visitors was high, considering that it was one of the hottest and sunniest weekends for a long time.

Nic Ashby, Senior Sales Consultant for Propertyline International, attended the exhibition and says - "We are very happy with the response from the public and how interested the Swedish public is in Malta as both a holiday destination as well as considering moving here full time. The people who came to visit our stand had all done their home work and are seriously interested in buying property here. I guess that the nice weather made them wanting to realise there dreams of warmer climates, now that the Swedish winter is on the doorstep".

The stand was joint a venture between Propertyline International and their Swedish real estate partner, BM Koch Fastighetsbyra who specialise in assisting their clients finding dream homes in the sun.

Trafford Busuttil, Managing Director of Propertyline International says - "It is delight to see that so many people from that part of the world, showing a keen interest in Malta and our signing with BM Koch as our business partners shows our commitment to the market. We are looking forward to a long and successful relationship with them and together we can offer full service menu to the clients, and it is all in Swedish with our Swedish speaking staff".

Many of the exhibitors from other countries were surprised by the large interest in the Maltese Islands. It is clear that Malta is now becoming much more known as a country and holiday destination, some of it can be traced back to the Maltese singer, Kevin Borg, winning the Swedish Pop Idol contest earlier this year. He has quickly become a household name and is promoting his home country whenever he can.

"Even though we work with many different countries, Malta has always had a warm place in our hearts and we are looking forward to helping many more clients discovering all that the Islands have to offer, such as the weather, the culture, the people and the easy access for example", says Britt-Mari Koch, Managing Director of BM Koch Fastighetsbyra.

WELCOME ON BOARD

We take this opportunity to welcome aboard Liz Apap Bologna who is going to be based in the Valletta Office as a Rental Consultant.

Whilst we wish Liz the very best in her new career, I am sure that all of us will do our utmost to make her feel at home and part of the Propertyline TEAM.

Best Performers in June

SALES CONSULTANT OF THE MONTH - Lorna
BEST PERFORMER - Arlette
RENTAL CONSULTANT OF THE MONTH - Sue
OFFICE OF THE MONTH - Valletta

WELCOME ON BOARD

We take this opportunity to welcome aboard Benjamin Cassar Bernard who is going to be based in Qawra as a Sales Consultant.Whilst we wish Ian the very best in his new career, we are sure that all of us will do our utmost to make him feel at home and part of the Propertyline TEAM.Benjamin's e-mail address is benjamin@propertylinemalta.com

BEST PERFORMERS IN MAY

SALES CONSULTANT OF THE MONTH - Arlette
BEST PERFORMER - Andrew
RENTAL CONSULTANT OF THE MONTH - Audrey
OFFICE OF THE MONTH - Qawra
RENTAL OFFICE OF THE MONTH - Sliema
TESTIMONIALS - Andrew

Maltese Gloss

Benjamin Disraeli once said of the Maltese capital, Valletta, that it was “a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen”.

The first group of gentlemen to which the 19th-century British prime minister referred was the Knights of St John, a monastic order made up of English aristocrats who were granted ownership of the island in 1530 by Charles V of Spain and who later defended it against Ottoman incursions. The second was presumably people such as Disraeli himself and the poet Lord Byron, who introduced Disraeli to Malta, since the UK ruled the formerly French-ruled territory from 1800 until its independence in 1964.

Continuing the tradition today are businessmen such as Julius Nehorai, who owns homes in London, Los Angeles and Portugal’s Algarve but who relocated to the island’s St Julians three years ago. “Malta appealed to me as a base because it has culture, a great climate, is only a three-hour flight from London and the locals are friendly,” he says. “Most significantly, it has a friendly tax scheme that makes doing business on the island viable.”

His attitude is one that local government and property companies hope to foster among more “gentlemen” buyers, both native and foreign, in coming years as they pull back from a 1970s and 1980s emphasis on mass-market tourism (which resulted in tacky strips of hotels and apartments) to focus on higher-end – yet still quite large – developments, mostly on the north-east coast within easy driving distance of Valletta.

“It’s important to remember that Malta is only a small island of 400,000 people and per capita it’s very expensive to compete with the bigger and richer nations to attract [foreigners] but nowadays the approach is to focus on the culture and history,” says Erminia Parfitt, assistant sales manger for property consortium Midi.

Malta’s new image would be bolstered by the mooted appointment of architect Renzo Piano to design a new parliament building on long-dormant land where the grand opera house, bombed during the second world war, once stood. Around the corner, on Valletta’s Grand Harbour, the €25m Valletta Waterfront project has seen the restoration of the historic Pinto and Forni warehouses, transforming them into a buzzing café and restaurant quarter next to the increasingly busy cruise ship terminal.

And at Tigne Point, overlooking the site where the knights built their last fort, Midi is undertaking a €450m restoration and construction project, with plans for 420 apartments, a 17,000 sq metre retail centre, 16,000 sq metres of office space and the fort set aside as a cultural venue. Prices for stylish two-bedroom units start at €407,000.

“We purposely built generously sized, high-spec apartments that would also attract the local market to buy and live at Tigne Point,” says Midi sales and marketing manager James Vassallo. “We didn’t want to create a second-home-only development that would look like a ghost town at certain times of the year. More than 60 per cent of the new apartments have been sold to Maltese, with British buyers making up nearly half of the remaining purchasers.”

Other luxury developments under way include Portomaso in St Julians, which will include a private marina and residences priced from €307,000, and the nearby Pendergardens, with three towers set around a piazza housing 360 apartments at €200,000 and up.

These new-build properties are increasingly popular, especially with Maltese buyers, but many foreign househunters are drawn to the island’s older buildings as well. And, although some are crumbling, many have already been restored to high standards. In Sliema, five minutes by ferry or 10 minutes by car from Valetta, estate agency Propertyline International is selling a three-storey, 300 sq metre, six-bedroom, roof-terraced art deco townhouse on a lovely street adjoining the promenade for €650,000. Inland, in the town of Attard, an expertly renovated 500-year-old, four-bedroom courtyard house with a frescoed ceiling and a 150 sq metre basement is priced at €1.153m

Both estate agents and developers acknowledge that the global recession has made it harder to sell luxury residences in Malta. But “high-quality properties in the right location continue to perform well,” says Michael De Maria, Pendergardens’ marketing manager. “Over the past few years, [we saw] average increases of around 8 per cent per annum driven by Malta joining the European Union in 2004 and the euro at the beginning of 2008 and the country’s economic success. Today, price increases are at a more sustainable level.”

Trafford Busuttil, Propertyline’s managing director and president of the Maltese Federation of Estate Agents, confirms that the market has been stagnant but he remains optimistic. “For the past half-decade, around 800 Britons a year have bought on Malta, except for this one, which has been slow,” he says. “Central bank figures for last year showed that average property prices fell by 2.7 per cent, with shell flats decreasing by 2 per cent, finished apartments by 5.4 per cent, terraced houses by 1.8 per cent and villas by 3.7 per cent. So we are seeing a correction. But sales and developments are still moving along.”

Indeed, Briton Paul Ramsay and his partner recently bought a two-bedroom penthouse in the coastal village of Marsascala as a getaway and an investment. “We were looking for a place that we could visit at least once a month, even for long weekends, and just unwind,” he explains. “We opted for Malta because of its relaxed lifestyle, blend of cultures, climate and charming scenery. [It’s] a small island so you are never far from something of interest and because of the variety of attractions, from ancient historic sites to good restaurants through to nightspots, it is never dull. Having both travelled and worked extensively worldwide, we found the Maltese one of the friendliest people we have met. And the penthouse we bought, with its light and airy interiors, combined with a large terrace, was just what we were looking for.”

An article written by Gordon Miller in the Financial Times and published on the 23rd May 2009

March Results

SALES CONSULTANT OF THE MONTH - Arlette - Great Work
BEST PERFORMER - Mark Barnes - Great work
RENTAL CONSULTANT OF THE MONTH - Michael - Great work
SECRETARY OF THE MONTH -
OFFICE OF THE MONTH - Valletta
RENTAL OFFICE OF THE MONTH - Gozo
INNOVATIVE IDEA OF THE MONTH - Mark Barnes
TESTIMONIALS - Arlette

WELCOME ON BOARD

We would like to welcome Mark Barnes to the Propertyline Team. Mark joined the Rental Team of the Gozo Office and his contact details are 79679100 or mark.barnes@propertylinemalta.com

Euro 1000 Gift to Propertyline Clients

Propertyline International participated in the HSBC Property expo held at the MFCC between the 27th February and the 1st March 2009. Trafford Busuttil, Managing Director of Propertyline International, was one of the guest speakers at the Exposition which had a very good turnout. During the exhibition Propertyline International offered its esteemed clientele a Euro 1000 gift for property purchases of Euro 100,000 and over . This is subject to certain minor conditions but had such a positive response that Propertyline International are extending the offer to all first time buyers till the 30th April 2009.

February Results

SALES CONSULTANT OF THE MONTH - Arlette - Great Work
BEST PERFORMER - Lorna - Great work
RENTAL CONSULTANT OF THE MONTH - Sue - Great work
SECRETARY OF THE MONTH - Alison
OFFICE OF THE MONTH - Valletta
RENTAL OFFICE OF THE MONTH - Sliema

Propertyline Seminar

The second Propertyline International Seminar will be held on Friday 27th March 2009 between 2pm and 6pm. All members of the Propertyline Team are to attend.

MALTA PROPERTY EXPO

Propertyline International will be participating in the Malta Property Expo being held at the MFCC Ta Qali this coming weekend.

Friday 27th February from 10am to 10pm
Saturday 28th February from 11am to 10pm
Sunday 1st March from 10am to 8pm

JANUARY RESULTS

SALES CONSULTANT OF THE MONTH - JOSEPH - Great Work
BEST PERFORMER - DAVID M. - Great work
RENTAL CONSULTANT OF THE MONTH - AUDREY - Great work
SECRETARY OF THE MONTH - SHARON
OFFICE OF THE MONTH - GOZO
RENTAL OFFICE OF THE MONTH - SLIEMA
TESTIMONIALS - ARLETTE

OFFICE EVENT

On Friday 30th January we are meeting at Trabixu Wine Bar, Strait Street, Valletta at 8.30pm for a fun night out. Kindly inform Kim Cioffi if you are attending by next Tuesday 27th January so that we will book a table.

Property.....Freeze , Squeeze or Opportunity?

A Seminar is being held by Trafford Busuttil, Managing Director of Propertyline International, on Thursday 5th February 2009 at the Yacht Club, Manoel Island from 6.00pm till 7.30pm. Owing to the limited seats available, kindly reserve a seat on 21 383970. Entrance is free and refreshments will be served.

2008 - Freeze, Squeeze or Opportunity ?

2008 - Freeze, Squeeze or Opportunity?

Much has been said about the Maltese property market in 2008 – There are those that spelt doom and gloom, others took a more cautious approach and there were those that remained totally upbeat and still saw a great future in the market. Which view is the correct one?

Whatever anyone says is immaterial especially when the subject under discussion is your Home, for many our largest single investment, it has to be you, the homeowner or would be homeowner, to digest what you read and decide with an open mind on the future of your investment.

One myth that should be clarified is that the property market is immune to any illness, no coughs, no colds, since it’s been so healthy for so many years. A perfect analogy to the situation is that of a child that is rarely sick and as soon as he catches a cold, the parents start thinking that the child is living the last few days of his life. Coughs, colds and bouts of flu are important in the development of us humans and the same goes for the property market. Nothing can continue growing and growing without taking a short rest.

To understand the events of 2008 one must take a look at the preceding years. Over the past few years, it seems that the majority of Maltese with disposable funds became developers. Why? They saw the market doing exceptionally well and thought that the only way for this industry was up. However, people failed to understand that the market they were investing in was also fuelled by a number of fiscal amnesties, in particular two overseas fund repatriations and another amnesty on cash funds held at home. A large portion of these funds found themselves into the market, since the island is extremely limited in the investments it offers and above all because the property market is a safe market. This was a spiked period and it was obvious that things were to go back to pre boom levels, which in fact happened.

Those that purchased land on the high side have to correct their prices to market value, if they want to sell, since no one is going to invest in something that is over current market value. Market value properties always sold well and will continue to sell well. One might argue that they can hold onto the property, which they can, however, please keep in mind inflation and Bank interest.

From an investment perspective, property is an investor’s dream. If you had to invest in shares, you would have to pay 100% of your investment up front and hope that the market performed. If you are risk averse, and would opt for bonds with a reasonable rate of return, you would still have to pay 100% of your investment up front. On the contrary, if you invest in property, you would generally pay 10% of the value of the property with the remaining balance financed thorough a Bank loan.

If you, the investor, had to purchase 10,000 shares in company X at € 10 per share you would have to pay € 100,000 on settlement date, and the same goes for bonds, whereas if you had to invest in a € 100,000 property your immediate capital outlay would be €10,000, since the other € 90,000 would be financed by means of a bank loan. Within the industry this is referred to as leverage, more precisely, high leverage as a large proportion of the property has been bought with borrowed money. Admittedly, one can also invest on the Stock Exchange by means of a loan for which other securities or property have been put up as collateral. However, when buying property you are in the fortunate situation of being able to put up the same property as collateral or part collateral.

There is no other investment vehicle that places you in the same favourable position that the property market puts you in. Which other investment can you think of that allows you to invest now and pay later? Which other investment finances it’s own way, in that the investor can rent out the premises and with the income so generated finance the monthly mortgage payments? If this business model is utilised, which other investment allows you to invest a mere10%, achieve 100% ownership, have the rental income pay for the loan and get a single or double digit percentage capital appreciation per year? Only investment in property can achieve such a remarkable performance.

Over the past 30 years the annual average returns on real estate investments worldwide have been 15.6%, as against to 12.3% for equities, 8.5% for bonds, and 6% for cash. This is further proof that property is a safe and secure investment. It is a product you can physically see, touch, enjoy and, most important of all, control personally, whereas other investments are held and managed by third parties.

The current international market situation is an ideal time to invest. Interest rates are on a downward trend, with the European Central Bank lowering it’s base rate by 1.75% over recent weeks, prices are corrective, rental returns have never been better, and local banks are still very willing to finance property purchases. Today’s market is an incredible investment opportunity. What doom and gloom, position yourself for the next boom, if you will!

Article published in the Economic Update by

Trafford Busuttil
Chairman of the Real Estate Trade Section – Malta Chamber of Commerce
President of the Federation of Estate Agents
Managing Director of Propertyline International