Despite a decline in number of property sale deals due to the precautionary measures taken to contain coronavirus outbreak, Qatar’s real estate market still reflects a large capacity of flexibility and stability, according to Ezdan Real Estate. Citing the Real Estate Registration Department’s figures during the period from April 4-16, 2020, Ezdan’s latest real estate report noted that a total of 36 property sale deals were clinched, at a total sum exceeding QR109.7m during the period.
The deals were distributed over 8 municipalities such as Umm Salal, Al-Khor, Al-Thakhira, Doha, Al-Rayyan, Shamal, Al-Daayen, Al-Wakra and AlShehaniya. The deals were closed for selling vacant lands, multi-use buildings, multi-use space, and residential buildings. Al Rayyan Municipality ranked first in terms of deal value following the sale of a multi-use building in Aziziyah spanning over an area of 917 square meters, at a price per square foot that reached QR1662, totaling QR16.4m.
On the other hand, all other municipalities haven’t witnessed any exceptional deals that may amount to QR50m, which rendered negative results on property sales volume during the week. Moreover, Al Shamal Municipality has witnessed the lowest sale deal in terms of value for a vacant land lot Al Ruwais area spanning over 480 square meters at a price less than QR97 per foot square, totaling nearly QR500,000. Doha and its suburb are home to several famous residential and commercial properties such as The Pearl Qatar, Msheireb Downtown Doha, West Bay and has always been favourite among real estate investors.
Doha sits on top in Qatar’s real estate market, but other real estate markets are catching up because of rapid infrastructure development and amenities. Areas such as Al Wakrah and Al Daayen are fast developing. They are emerging real estate markets and can provide better returns to real estate investors, according to market experts. Many companies unveiled offers last year to stimulate real estate activity. Rental incentives such as rent-free periods, and rents that are inclusive of utility bills were offered as incentives to attract tenants, boosting demand for residential properties.
However, due to the additional supply of residential properties to the existing stock, the rentals are still facing downward pressure attracting many tenants moving to better housing facilities. According to the market review, overall, during the first quarters of this year transactional volumes of residential houses decreased by 13 percent year-on-year (Y-o-)Y and no change compared to the previous quarter (Q4, 2019). However, this fall cannot be fully attributed towards the advent of COVID-19 as transactional volumes have been dipping annually since Q2, 2019
