Malta's Rental Market in Mid-2026: The Cooling Nobody Expected

For most of the past five years, Malta's rental market has had one direction: up. Double-digit annual increases between 2021 and 2024 pushed rents to levels that consumed 40%+ of a typical salary. That era appears to be ending — not with a crash, but with a plateau.

Advertised rents are now growing at roughly 2–4% annually, in line with or barely above inflation. Here is what the data shows and what it means whether you rent or let.

What rents actually look like right now

Average monthly asking rents from live listings across all 13 agencies on Darna (June 2026):

| Locality | Avg. asking rent | 2-bed | 3-bed |

|---|---|---|---|

| Madliena | €3,179 | €2,017 | €2,776 |

| Ta' Xbiex | €2,337 | €1,925 | €2,614 |

| Sliema | €2,197 | €1,896 | €2,650 |

| Valletta | €2,097 | €2,479 | €2,714 |

| St Julian's | €2,007 | €1,969 | €2,240 |

| Swieqi | €1,793 | €1,625 | €1,903 |

| Attard | €1,726 | €1,407 | €1,759 |

| Gzira | €1,630 | €1,643 | €1,812 |

| Naxxar | €1,627 | €1,450 | €1,608 |

| Mosta | €1,608 | €1,472 | €1,570 |

| Mellieha | €1,604 | €1,344 | €1,706 |

| San Gwann | €1,513 | €1,431 | €1,635 |

| St Paul's Bay | €1,413 | €1,315 | €1,522 |

| Msida | €1,376 | €1,393 | €1,457 |

| Marsaskala | €1,355 | €1,213 | €1,398 |

| Qawra | €1,297 | €1,231 | €1,404 |

| Victoria (Gozo) | €1,039 | €968 | €1,044 |

The spread is the story: a two-bedroom in Qawra (€1,231) costs less than half a Valletta equivalent (€2,479).

Why the cooling happened

1. Supply caught up. Construction permits surged — around 8,700 units approved in 2024 alone, with permits up over 100% year-on-year in late 2025. Thousands of new rental units, mostly in Gzira, Msida, St Paul's Bay, and the south, hit the market through 2025–2026.

1. Migration mix shifted. Net migration remains positive (over 10,000 annually), but growth in mid-income service workers has slowed while higher-income professionals negotiate harder and increasingly consider buying instead.

1. Landlords now compete. Three years ago a decent two-bed in Gzira got rented within 48 hours of listing. Today comparable units sit on the market for weeks, and listings increasingly mention "negotiable" — a word that had nearly vanished from Maltese rental ads.

If you are a tenant

• Negotiate. In oversupplied segments (newer two-beds in Gzira, Msida, St Paul's Bay), offers 5–10% below asking are being accepted, especially for 18–24 month terms.
• Check the whole market before renewing. If your landlord proposes an increase, compare live listings in your area first — search rentals on Darna. The days of "take it or leave it" are over in most localities.
• Premium areas are still tight. Sliema seafront, Valletta, and Ta' Xbiex remain supply-constrained. Expect little negotiating room there.

If you are a landlord

• Price realistically from day one. Stale listings now accumulate. Three weeks of vacancy at €1,500/month costs more than letting at €1,430 immediately.
• Quality differentiates. With tenants comparing dozens of similar units, recently renovated and well-furnished apartments rent measurably faster.
• Yields still work. Gross yields average around 3.9% island-wide, but the spread by locality is wide — Qawra and Msida two-beds yield notably more than Sliema equivalents on purchase price. We covered the best buy-to-let areas in our rental income guide.

The outlook

Nothing on the horizon suggests rents will fall outright — migration is positive, tourism is at records, and the new government's housing measures target buyers, not rental supply. The likeliest path is continued 2–4% growth: relief by recent standards, but no return to 2019 prices.

For tenants, this is the best negotiating environment since the pandemic. Use it.