The rent for prime apartments in Qatar drop by 10%, says report
For long, people in Qatar have been affected by an increase in the country’s cost of living. But now, there seems to be some cheer in the horizon.
In the first indicator of a downward trend, a new report by real estate firm DTZ Qatar found that rents of prime residential apartments in Qatar have dropped by up to 10% in the second quarter of 2016 over the same period last year.
DTZ Associate Director Johnny Archer said many prime apartments saw rents falling by QR1,000 to QR1,500, while rents of villas dropped by up to QR2,000-QR3,000 per month.
Archer attributed the fall in rents to increased vacancy rates in recent months as a large number of white-collar workers are leaving the country.
While the population of Qatar increased by some 9% over the past 12 months, the vast majority of new arrivals are made up of low-paid construction workers.
"While this has kept the tertiary sector buoyant, demand for prime and mid-range residential accommodations have dropped due to exit of a significant number of white- collar workers," he told Qatar Tribune.
Rental reductions were less evident for mid-range apartments and villas in the second quarter. He, however, said there may be a softening in rents in this segment in the third quarter as new supply comes to the market in areas such as Bin Mahmoud and Al Mansoura.
Prime residential apartment supply is also expected to increase significantly in the coming days, with more than 3,000 new housing units nearing completion in West Bay and The Pearl-Qatar.
It is likely that new supply will see rents continue to soften, reversing the trend of high increases experienced between 2011 and 2015.
Among many findings, the DTZ's research team has also identified reduction in Grade A office rents of between 10 and 15% since the start of the year with the majority of enquiries being made for space of less than 250sqm.
There has been a continious fall in demand for corporate residential lettings for apartment blocks and compounds with more companies now preferring to provide rental allowances rather than paying for employee accommodation.
This is great news.. I wonder if Rizks will drop the prices at his "Rent by the hour" motel
gasoline prices going up
This 10% can be invested into the Good Mutual Funds schemes ......... which will get you 15-30 % per year ................. very good news .............................