Summer's Almost Gone...
As much as I love the long sunny days, the buzzing coast and boat rides, I also really miss winter. I never used to actually, however I must say I am looking forward to the nights in with my family, by the fireplace and watching the storms form and destroy from behind the safety of my 5th floor penthouse windows.
With the beach lidos packing it up, first storm of the season and school traffic the property industry in Malta changes very slightly. The hotels are still fully booked due to off season rates. Most short let properties are closing off the season too and the ones outside the Sliema, St. Julians and Gzira switch to a 6 month lease for the winter season. This puts up the availability and increases short term options for people looking to move.
Most tenants believe that the price of property comes down in the winter season, this is not the case. From our experience the prices have just been increasing by an average of 50 Euro every six months, winter or summer makes no difference. The only difference is that there is slightly more variety. Having said this, we strongly recommend that any tenants looking to move during this period should always ask the owner if the contract is extendable.
Humidity in Malta also plays a massive role within this delicate period of change. Many ground floor apartments all over the island tend to mould up due to the increased amount of water being sucked up from the earth. Owners normally look after their investment and go through massive lengths to keep this problem at bay. There are many ways to avoid this problem but it always requires an on-going process. We always suggest including a clause within the contract to protect both parties and in the case of the mould reappearing treatment will be implied immediately. The humidity problem can even happen to a property not on the ground floor, sometimes apartments suffer from this problem due to being built on a hill and the rear end would have been dug out of the hill.
By the looks of things this winter is going to be a very busy winter for the Letting Agents and Property Owners. When comparing our client list to last September and beginning of October our clients tripled. One might say that our company has grown, yes this could definitely be the case, but with the way things are going for Malta I believe that the winter months on our islands will become as demanding as last years' summer months.
The Northern part of the island becomes more and more popular due the never ending picturesque green views. The properties there, especially in Maniktata are extremely well set and normally always complimented by a larger than normal terrace. Run a search on our system and have a look at some the options we can offer you! We can assure you the storms in Malta would look amazing from up there!