MARKET OVERVIEW OF GIBRALTAR’S HOUSING MARKET
Gibraltar’s housing market is “strong,” thanks to a growing economy and very low unemployment. In recent years, the territory has become a hub for the online gambling industry and for financial technology services companies, which together account for nearly a quarter of the area’s jobs.
Gibraltar is just 2.6 square miles and it is currently undergoing a building boom as developers seek to meet pent-up housing demand created by the influx of foreign workers, many of whom favour the modern developments around the marinas of Ocean Village and Queensway Quay.
The government is also encouraging the redevelopment of the Upper Town neighbourhood, a historic and very elegant area that has been abandoned. A former police quarters there was recently converted into apartments.
In the last five years, home prices have been steadily increasing. A new high-quality apartment sells for an average of about 5,500 to 6,000 pounds a square meter, compared to around 4,500 to 5,000 pounds five years ago.
The market for rentals is also very strong.
Over the next year or so, around 400 new one- to four-bedroom units will become available, and another 500 to 600 studios and one-bedrooms are in the planning stages, which could overheat the lower end of the market, as speculators and buy-to-rent investors swoop in. Most of the people who are coming to live and work in Gibraltar.
About three-quarters of foreign buyers are British. The rest are above all European, although there are also Israelis and Australians.
While demand is driven in large part by imported labor, the strong rental market is also attracting foreign investors.
The government’s tax structure tends to attract wealthy individuals, as there is no capital gains or inheritance tax.
[from NYTimes]
Gibraltar is just 2.6 square miles and it is currently undergoing a building boom as developers seek to meet pent-up housing demand created by the influx of foreign workers, many of whom favour the modern developments around the marinas of Ocean Village and Queensway Quay.
The government is also encouraging the redevelopment of the Upper Town neighbourhood, a historic and very elegant area that has been abandoned. A former police quarters there was recently converted into apartments.
In the last five years, home prices have been steadily increasing. A new high-quality apartment sells for an average of about 5,500 to 6,000 pounds a square meter, compared to around 4,500 to 5,000 pounds five years ago.
The market for rentals is also very strong.
Over the next year or so, around 400 new one- to four-bedroom units will become available, and another 500 to 600 studios and one-bedrooms are in the planning stages, which could overheat the lower end of the market, as speculators and buy-to-rent investors swoop in. Most of the people who are coming to live and work in Gibraltar.
About three-quarters of foreign buyers are British. The rest are above all European, although there are also Israelis and Australians.
While demand is driven in large part by imported labor, the strong rental market is also attracting foreign investors.
The government’s tax structure tends to attract wealthy individuals, as there is no capital gains or inheritance tax.
[from NYTimes]
