Malta has fastest-rising house prices

The Financial Times reports that Malta has snatched the title for the fastest-rising house prices from Hong Kong, after the Mediterranean island enjoyed a boost from its technology sector, according to Knight Frank.

House prices in the Mediterranean climbed 16.9 per cent in the twelve months to the end of June compared to a year earlier, leading the estate agency’s Global House Price Index for the first time and outstripping the 15.9 per cent growth in Hong Kong.

Malta was ranked in second place at the end of March. Prices in Malta have risen thanks to strong economy and a “buoyant technology industry”, the Knight Frank said.

The country has attracted wealthy individuals through a programme offering Maltese citizenship – which includes the right to live and work in the rest of the EU – in return for investment.

Hong-Kong, which has led the Knight Frank rankings ten times since 2009, is showing signs of a cooling property market under the effects of rising US interest rates and a slowing local economy. The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US dollar, forcing the city’s de facto central bank to raise rates in tandem with the Federal Reserve.

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