DOHA: A plot of land in the far-flung yet sprawling suburb of Khartiyat went up for sale this past week at a rate of QR19,091 per square metre.
This was one of over 300 deals that took place last week showcasing spiralling demand for real estate as Qatar prepares to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
The value of real estate transactions registered with the Justice Ministry in the week (November 17 and 21) totalled over QR2.63bn as a result, which was a record this year.
In Frij bin Mahmoud in Doha, for example, a house of 1,123 square metres was sold for QR45m — the rate per square metre being an incredible QR40,000.
“There is increasing demand for land for residential use all over the country,” said real estate expert, Khalifa Al Muslemani, commenting on past week’s real estate transactions.
He said these were the land and properties whose transactions were registered with the Real Estate Registration Department at the ministry.
“Several deals have taken place in West Bay and Lusail that do not need to be registered with the ministry, so they are not included in the weekly total,” Al Muslemani said in remarks to The Peninsula. According to him, there is huge liquidity flow from banks to the real estate sector currently.
“Banks are providing real estate loans at a lower rate of four percent and that is triggering massive demand,” he said.
The stock market has been fluctuating rather sharply in recent weeks, which has led to decreasing investor confidence, the expert said.
“This is encouraging a number of investors to switch to real estate, which is a stable and expanding sector and profits are large and quick.”
Asked why last week so many plots of equal size (from 464 square metres to 550 square metres) were sold in Ain Khalid (Rayyan Municipality) in the week, Al Muslemani said those were meant for residential use.
It is possible a big-time owner or owners did plotting and sold smaller plots to Qataris to build homes.
A record 111 above-sized plots went up for sale in Ain Khalid at varying rates, according to details posted on the website of the ministry.
Al Muslemani said the value of real estate transactions this week is expected to cross past week’s record total as one deal between Barwa and Qatari Diar was worth QR2bn.
The Peninsula
