Lebanon’s real estate market is stagnant but still standing

The Lebanese real estate sector presently suffers stagnation despite the high 30% discount incentives, at time when prices of property remain unchanged, An Nahar daily reported today, according to the real estate experts Raja Makarem and vice president of the Builders Association, Atef Dagher, who basing their information on a recent study by Ramco for Trading and Contracting, pointed out that real estate dealers have not adjusted their present prices since last year. Makarem explained that the high incentives do not apply to small apartments which have witnessed greater demand, but rather on the 200-250 km square flats, adding that there are currently some 400 new buildings under construction. While pointing to the absence of Arab Gulf dealers, either buying or selling, Makarem attributed the slump to the unstable political and economic situations in the country. “Nevertheless the real estate sector is still standing, but for how long can it remain resilient,” Makarem questioned. For his part, Dagher made clear that the real estate sluggishness extends to all Lebanon and is not restricted to any particular region. On the other hand, the Bank Audi Research Department completed a report under the heading ‘a narrow fluctuation in prices amidst a slight slowdown in a market which has recently witnessed a slow activity as a result of internal political disputes and the continuing unrest in neighboring Syria.’ The report has shown that the real estate sector is still relatively and satisfactorily stable despite the general tension, similar to the banking and monetary sectors which have demonstrated an outstanding steadfastness in the past years. According to Bank Audi weekly monitor, the average value of sales as declared in the real estate department in the first 8 months of 2016 increased to USD 130,807, recording increases across Lebanon, most notably in the South. On the other hand, figures published by the General Directorate of Real Estate for the first 8 months of 2016, indicated that the property market has seen a slight rise in transactions which reached nearly a total of USD 5.3 billion, against USD 5,059 billion for the same period of 2015. The total number of sales operations registered was 40,507 deals. (Al Akhbar, An Nahar, October 17, 2016)