(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Sachin Kumar | The Peninsula
DOHA: Showing resilience, the real estate transactions in Qatar have increased during the last quarter of 2017 despite the unjust siege imposed on the country.
The transaction volume has shown an increase of 8 percent and 12 percent in October and November last year respectively compared to corresponding months in 2016.
'Total sales value in October was QR6.52bn. This was the highest monthly total since July 2015, said Johny Archer, Associate Director, Consulting and Research, DTZ Qatar, a real estate consultancy company, while addressing a seminar organised at Hilton Hotel yesterday.
'Qatar (real estate) market has shown considerable resilience as compared to other markets in the region. For example, Abu Dhabi seeing residential rents fall by 13 percent and Bahrain by 16.2 percent during 2017, he said, while releasing a report on real estate sector.
Prime residential rents have softened by up to 10 percent over the past 12-month period but the secondary market has shown more resilience over the past year with Ezdan Oasis setting the benchmark in terms of newly built middle-income apartments, noted the report.
'Whilst there continues to be a softening in the residential and commercial rental market, this has been driven by supply pipeline and not a result of the ongoing blockade, said the report.
The total hospitality inventory is approaching 25,000 keys and whilst 70 percent of properties are 4 and 5 star, there have been some new 3 star entries, including the Holiday Inn and Premiere Inn.
A further 10,000 hotel rooms and 2,000 serviced apartments are at various stages of planning and construction, the report stated.
Tawar Mall, Doha Mall, La Gallaria and Katara Mall are likely to open this year, added the report.
'Total organised retail supply in Qatar is almost 1.3 million square metre (sqm), distributed amongst the country's 20 principal shopping malls, almost doubling the supply from 2014, Archer told The Peninsula.
The recent lifting of visa restrictions to the Nationalities of 80 countries has yet to filter down into any quantifiable impact on retail performance, however, DTZ believes that this will be very much dependent on the country of origin of the visitors.
'Expectation that measures taken to expand and diversify the economy will begin to take hold, and increase real estate demand, said Archer.
The impact of enabling visa on arrival / visa free access to Qatar for visitors from 80 countries will be more quantifiable during 2018 as travellers are able to incorporate Qatar in their travel plans.
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