For many 20-somethings in Malta, owning property once symbolised stability, freedom and investment… However today it increasingly feels like a mirage. The economy might boast strong growth, but young workers and recent graduates are struggling with salaries that simply don’t match the pace of housing costs, and the result is a widening gap between ambition and affordability.
The Wage Reality
Let’s begin with what young people take home.
Recent survey data reveals that two-thirds of Maltese youth expect a starting salary of over €25,000 per year. Yet in reality, median incomes for under-25s are closer to “€18,500”. In broader terms, the national average monthly gross salary across all occupations in Q4 2024 was around €1,997, or roughly €23,964 annually.
For starting roles and particularly in sectors dominated by young workers, figures can be even lower. One advert for a youth worker position lists a starting salary of €23,801.
The Property Cost Explosion
Meanwhile, housing costs are surging. The median apartment price in Malta has risen to €285,000 in 2024 and in the second quarter of 2025 alone, house prices increased by 5.6 % year-on-year, higher than the EU average of 5.4 %.
When property prices rise faster than salaries, the ratio of a property’s cost to a worker’s income becomes alarmingly high. One study found that first-time buyers often needed savings equal to 10 % of the property value just for the deposit… doing simple math that means that on a €230,000 home that’s around €23,000.
The Resulting Disconnect
The combined effect of low starting pay and high housing costs means young adults face bleak choices: postpone buying property indefinitely, sacrifice significant lifestyle freedoms or rely heavily on family assistance. One recent report on housing affordability concluded that for many young Maltese people it is “unlikely … to afford moving out of the family home unless they receive family or state assistance”.
This is not just about desire as owning a home remains a key part of Maltese social and economic culture. Yet the shift is happening in which fewer young people are buying property as sole owners (down from 60 % to 51 % in one period) and the average age of leaving the parental home in Malta is about 30.1 years, compared to the EU average of 26.4 years.
What Could Change
So what’s the way forward?
- Raising starting salaries: If entry-level salaries were closer to young people’s expectations (€25,000), the proportional burden of saving for housing would fall.
- Policy intervention in housing: Whether through government-assisted schemes, subsidies or restructuring of deposits and lending rules, there is urgent need for mechanisms that reflect young adults’ realities.
- Better transparency and voices: Young workers must be heard in shaping housing policy, wage standards and broader economic planning. Their lived experience should drive the conversation.
The Moral Question
Ultimately, Malta has built a reputation as a prosperous and dynamic economy, yet the people at the furthest end of the property ladder feel shut out. How fair is it to promise home ownership as a pathway to security without ensuring the economic foundations to access it?
For young Maltese adults, the dream of owning property remains priced out of reach.
Until wages reflect both the cost of living and the cost of aspiration, that dream may remain a distant sight rather than a reachable goal.