Qatar Real Estate News
Qatar residential market stable during second quarter 2011
The residential market in Qatar appears to have been stable during the second quarter of 2011, while the commercial sector has seen rental declines over the medium term, said the latest report by Global Investment House.
Global, in its latest report about the GCC real estate market, revealed that the residential market in Qatar showed signs of stabilization during the second quarter, following mixed performance reported in the previous quarter, when rentals were hovering around the same levels as that during fourth quarter of 2010 in most areas.
The report said that areas such as The Pearl Qatar saw strong leasing activity as delays in delivery of new units, led to stability in rental prices. The rentals for villas were similar in most areas, as it remained unchanged from that during the first quarter of 2011, except for minor change in Al Dafna.
As the new projects keep entering the market, the amount of surplus stock in commercial sector kept growing, due to slowing demand. According to estimates by Global, at least 30 office towers are under construction at present in the central business district. The average monthly rents during the second quarter dropped 3percent from the levels during the previous quarter.
The report by Global anticipates rentals in the commercial sector to continue declining over the medium term, with new supply entering the market adding to the already existent vacancies.
As for rentals in other destinations in GCC, rentals remained under pressure during the second quarter in Bahrain, although the affordable housing was still under demand. In Kuwait, the private housing segment continued to remain active constituting 55percent of total transactions during the second quarter this year. In Dubai, apartment rentals dropped 2percent during second quarter this year, while in Abu Dhabi, rentals of both villas and apartments decreased at a fast pace during the quarter, the report said.
Posted on 8/11/2011