Sotheby’s International Realty Luxury Outlook for 2022 – And What You Need to Know

Malta Luxury Real Estate News, International Real Estate News

4th February 2022

Sotheby’s International Realty Luxury Outlook for 2022 – And What You Need to Know

View the full Sotheby’s International Realty’s Luxury Outlook Report for 2022 by clicking here.

Sotheby’s International Realty recently released its Luxury Outlook for the year 2022. The 2022 Luxury Outlook report is an ambitious exploration into high-end residential markets across the globe. 2021 proved to be a perfect storm for the high-end housing market as the starts-and-stops of the pandemic’s reopening fuelled even stronger demand for larger homes and inventory struggled to keep pace.  The report takes an in-depth look at the global property market and what that means in terms of real estate trends.

Second-home markets across the globe have been experiencing a high demand since mid-2020, with luxury buyers motivated to seek out properties in holiday destinations with easy access to beaches, mountains, and other scenic spots where they can wait out the pandemic.

In fact, vacation-home sales in the United States were up 57.2% year-over-year for January-April 2021, compared with the 20% year-over-year change in total existing-home sales, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

There have been similar increases in inquiries in Europe: Foreign buyers, undeterred by Covid-19, are buying properties on the French Riviera sight unseen, with brokers reporting multimillion-dollar sales to investors who haven’t set foot in the homes. In Greece, inquiries from American second-home buyers were up by 60% in spring 2021 year-over-year.

Malta hasn’t been immune to this trend with Malta Sotheby’s International realty seeing a surge in foreigners looking for a second home and many enquiries from not only American buyers, but also South African and British clients looking for safe and sound investments as they explore the possibility of Citizenship and Permanent residency through the Maltese Citizenship by Naturalisation for Exceptional Services by Direct Investment Regulations and the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP), this is despite tight travel restrictions curtailing foreign investment.

“We have also seen an increase in the local market with wealthy individuals who already own primary homes in Malta are investing in secondary prime properties. There seems to be a strong ‘fear of missing out’ mindset, the sense of urgency has heightened with clients being more demanding and decisive with their decision-making process,” explains Michael J Zammit, Director & Joint Owner of Malta Sotheby’s International Realty.

The way buyers have been utilizing these new investments, too, has changed. With remote-work policies still in place at many companies, homeowners are staying longer in their vacation properties, using them more like primary homes, rather than visiting occasionally and renting them out the rest of the year.

It remains an open question as to how new owners of second homes will use their investments going forward, once rates of Covid-19 transmission decrease, travel restrictions are loosened, and more workplaces reopen.

But for many high-net-worth investors, the pandemic has encouraged lifestyle changes that may become permanent.

“Of course, it’s hard to predict what might shift, but the uptake in demand for luxury properties means that unlike before when it was a buyers’ market the tides have now changed in favour of the seller. There may eventually come a cooldown in demand, but we believe buyers who have already purchased holiday homes are likely to hold onto them for some time,” concludes Zammit.

To see the full Sotheby’s International Realty’s Luxury Outlook Report for 2022 click here.

Alternatively, contact Malta Sotheby’s International Realty directly on +356 2010 8077, view their website at www.maltasothebysrealty.com or visit their office located on the Portomaso Marina, Malta to find out more.

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Malta Sotheby's International Realty

Launched on the Maltese islands in 2013, Malta Sotheby's International Realty had one clear vision and goal in mind – to offer our clients the highest level of commitment and quality of service in the high-end residential and commercial real estate market throughout the Maltese Islands. We derive our success from local expertise, professionalism, commitment, and discretion to meet any client’s needs. We understand the importance of finding a home that not only suits your needs but suits your vision for the future – a place that facilitates comfort, creativity and familiarity. We realise that a home is much more than a place to live - it is a sanctuary from where we build families and dreams. Our real estate professionals will guide you towards finding your ideal home throughout the entire buying and selling process. The culture of Malta SIR is defined by our knowledgable and dedicated diverse team which spans over multiple nationalities, whether you are a vendor or a buyer we speak your language.

The listing information set forth on this site is based upon information which we consider reliable, but because it has been supplied by third parties to our franchisees (who in turn supplied it to us) , we cannot represent that it is accurate or complete, and it should not be relied upon as such. The offerings are subject to errors, omissions, changes, including price, or withdrawal without notice. All dimensions are approximate and have not been verified by the selling party and cannot be verified by Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. It is recommended that you hire a professional in the business of determining dimensions, such as an appraiser, architect or civil engineer, to determine such information.طراحی سایت