Malta Developers Reluctant To Release Report Disproving Property Bubble
A recent report by auditing firm KPMG on behalf of the Malta Developers Association has been touted by the Government as proof that there is “no property bubble”.
Highlights of the report were presented to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at a press conference, who praised the report for being undertaken even though there would be resistance to it in the past.
The findings suggest that, rather than a bubble, the construction market boom is being driven by high demand and strong economic growth. It also says there is no sign of a supply glut, and that price increases are being matched by demand.
However, the report has been criticised for a number of things. Criticisms range from rentals not being fully taken into consideration, and vacant houses not bring included in the supply count.
Perhaps the largest of these criticisms is that the report is not being released to the public – the presentation that was shown at the press conference is available on the MDA website, but not the full report.
MDA head Sandro Chetcuti told Lovin Malta that they couldn’t release the report due to confidential details as well as the expected negative online blowback from anything to do with the construction industry.
“Malta is suffering from cowboys”
He said the real problem was that the construction industry was being seen in a bad light because Malta was “suffering from cowboys”: would-be developers that do not follow the code of ethics.
In response to Lovin Malta’s request to have the full report publicly published, Sandro Chetcuti said that if the MDA council agrees that it should be made public, they would make it public.
Do you think the MDA should publish the full report? Is Malta currently going through a housing bubble? Let us know in the comments below.
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