St Paul's Bay sees highest number of new dwellings for third consecutive quarter

St Paul’s Bay has remained the country’s top locality for issued building permits in the third quarter of 2023, NSO data suggests. 

In fact, Malta’s largest locality has seen the highest number of approved building permits for three consecutive quarters.

During the third quarter of 2023, a total of 384 building permits were issued, covering the construction of 1,827 new dwellings. A comparison with the same quarter in 2022 reveals a 13.9% decrease in the number of building permits and a 12.7% decrease in the number of approved new dwellings. 

On average, each building permit corresponded to the approval of 4.8 new dwellings.

The majority of the newly approved dwellings in were apartments, amounting to 1,337 units, followed by penthouses (276), maisonettes (141), terraced houses (61), and other residential units (12). Apartments accounted for 73.2% of the overall approved new dwellings.

At the local level, St Paul’s Bay led with the highest number of approved new dwellings (222), followed by Mosta (110), Birkirkara (107), Ħal Qormi (85), and Tas-Sliema (82).

A recent Housing Authority study also shows that St Paul’s Bay is the most popular locality among first-time buyers.

A closer look at the regional breakdown indicates a 6.5% decrease in the number of new dwellings approved in Malta, while in Gozo and Comino, there was a more substantial decrease of 35.5%. The Northern Harbour district registered the highest number of approved new dwellings (528), with the Western district recording the lowest (160).