Housing unit rents are likely to grow at various rates during the first half of next year, according to a local real estate survey, as over one million tourists are expected to visit Qatar for the FIFA World Cup 2022. According to a survey, the Gulf state’s real estate sector would continue to be the most expensive of all sectors in the coming year. Out of the total budget expenditures, the state’s general budget has set aside 74 billion riyals for big projects, as the government moves forward with public projects in accordance with its established plans and strategies. Infrastructure projects, the development of citizens’ lands, and public service development projects, such as roads, bridges, and a complete sewage network, are given top priority in spending.
Current scenario
A number of real estate projects have been completed increasing the number of apartments for rent in Qatar to increase. According to the report, particularly in Lusail City, which covers an area of nearly 1.8 million square metres. It was noted that during the fourth quarter of 2021, positive growth rates in the construction of real estate projects were reached as compared to the same period the previous year. Last March, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and the Qatari Ministry of Labour signed a memorandum of understanding under which the two parties pledged to work together to help provide housing for World Cup supporters and visitors to Qatar for the 2022 tournament.
Over 150 various properties in buildings, towers, and residential complexes (complete and undivided) and completely furnished units were approved in the first phase, totalling about 15,000 rooms. The rental value of the units is set using government-established housing prices, and the real estate rental period will last at least five years, which is the length of the contracts with real estate owners. The contracts’ purpose is to take advantage of the rental properties during the World Cup and thereafter use them to house staff through the government housing programme.
Expert opinion
According to a real estate expert, there has been a relative recovery to activity, with trading values up 94 percent from the previous week. During the first half of 2022, the increase in prices will be accompanied by an increase in demand for one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, according to the report.
The consistency of rental rates for nearly a year, according to experts, promotes the stability of the country’s real estate industry, noting that real estate developers, sellers, investors, and banks all encourage stability away from unexpected surges and dips. It also noted that, despite the fact that the indicators indicated a decrease in rents, there were increases in some areas estimated at around 20% during the previous period, and that rents did not decrease, noting that the intensity of demand, in addition to the contracts concluded by the state with real estate owners for use during the World Cup events, is one of the main reasons for the market’s stability in the current period.
What to expect
Residential rental costs in Qatar have decreased in some locations in recent months, with real estate experts predicting that prices will stabilise in the next months, lasting until Qatar hosts the FIFA World Cup at the end of next year in 2022. Indicators of real estate market movement from a year ago to now indicate that there is more supply than demand in the real estate market and that demand for the type of real estate (administrative – household) is equal to the rental value of the two types, despite the fact that the value of the administrative real estate was previously higher than residential real estate.
Official figures show that real estate sales will increase in 2020, despite the market’s speedy recovery from the consequences of the coronavirus outbreak. Experts and real estate marketers believe that building a large number of hotels and public amenities in advance of a sudden spike in lodging demand in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup would ensure that the athletic event has a minimum impact on rents in Qatar. According to official data, the value of real estate transactions in Qatar exceeded QR31 billion in the previous year, representing a 36.2 per cent annual increase to reflect the growth in real estate transaction values and investors’ demand for the real estate sector as a safe investment.
