Maltas Market Battle

With new destinations such as Bulgaria, Slovenia and Croatia offering two and three bedroom apartments for sale for £50,000, there was concern last year among some Malta estate agents that 2005 could see a drop in the number of UK and Irish buyers choosing to buy a holiday home on the island.

With good all year round temperatures enticing many buyers for the winter months as well as the summer, driving on the left and a warm welcome from the local population who nearly all speak English, Malta has been popular for some years among overseas property buyers.

"A home from home in the Med is often the comment we hear from overseas property buyers" comments Michael Johnson of Malta property specialists Tribune Properties.

"With countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia opening up their property markets to overseas buyers there is a chance that the Maltese property market could see a decline in sales this year.

But it hasn't happened in the first quarter of 2005 at least. Malta has an appeal that never really attracted the bargain hunters in the past who tended to look more at rural France and Spain where the low cost airlines fly to, and it is these buyers who are now considering the new markets rather than the buyers we see in Malta."

Risk Factor

Malta joined the EU last year, and this has helped maintain Malta's popularity among overseas property buyers.

"Malta has economic, legal and political systems that are established, and might be viewed as less of a risk than countries where title deeds might be more questionable", adds Johnson, "And we advise buyers wherever they ultimately decide upon to appoint an independent lawyer who can converse in the buyer's own language to oversee any property transaction to help avoid any potentially expensive misunderstandings."

For details of over seventy apartments and villas for sale in Malta visit http://www.maltaproperty.info where details are available by email.

Michael Johnson, Tribune Properties, Malta

Malta Estate Agent, domestic and overseas property buyers catered for.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.

California has until Monday to share in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms. Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who walked away from talks last year, says the door remains open.

With a Monday deadline at hand, California officials have resumed direct talks with the Obama administration about joining a multibillion-dollar, multi-state mortgage settlement with the nation's largest banks, a source said Sunday.

The talk show host pays $12 million for the 4,088-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with beach access.

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore lists for $2,875,000.

A decorative cast stone entrance opens to this restored Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Pasadena's South Orange Grove area. Built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore, the house retains such original details as coffered wood ceilings and arched doorways.

They don't believe they can sell their property for what it's worth, so they're spending money on making their homes more comfortable.

Do you fit any of these descriptions?

A biennial research report by the National Assn. of Realtors indicates that a handful of real estate agents and brokers and their clients either don't know the law or don't care to follow it.

When it comes to lawsuits, real estate agents and brokers tangle mostly among themselves.

The president aims to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages.

 

The White House hopes to help millions of homeowners lower their monthly mortgage bill with a $5 billion to $10 billion plan to set up a streamlined refinancing program for people who are current on their payments.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.

Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.

L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too.