Drop in demand for residential units in Qatar
There has been a considerable rise in the number of vacant residential units available for rent as compared to the situation around six months ago, according to industry insiders.
According to Gulf Times, some agents said they were finding it difficult to get new tenants even after offering reduced rents in some cases, pointing to a slowdown in demand.
“It is for almost two months now that I have been posting advertisements about a vacant apartment in a villa through different websites and other means. However, no serious tenant has shown up yet. I even reduced the rent by 10-15% but continued to get the same response. I cannot reduce it further because I have to pay a set amount as rent to the owner of the villa,” said an expatriate who sublets apartments.
Several others operating in the real estate sector, including representatives of realty firms as well as individual agents, confirmed this trend.
“I have a number of units in the Rayyan area, including those (portions of a villa) with monthly rents of above QR4,500. However, these have been lying vacant for a few months now but we cannot help it because the owner will not accept lower rates.
Six months ago, the market saw a surge in demand and there was a shortage of units on offer, which made rents go up. However, I think this has changed now,” said a real estate agent who described himself as a “freelancer”.
Some feel that rents may come down if the ongoing trend continues.
“It is only a matter of time… if things go on like this, we will see more reasonable rates in the market,” said an agent working in a real estate company, affirming that demand has dropped of late and there are a number of vacant units waiting for tenants.
He stressed that lower rents would be highly instrumental in reviving the market and attracting new tenants.
However, while some agents believe that “more reasonable” rents are a likelihood in the future if one goes by current indicators, there are some people who prefer to keep their properties vacant than give them on rent at lower rates, say the insiders.
“Some people want to control the market artificially and not follow demand-supply rules, but this may not last for long. Eventually, market realities will dictate rents,” said another real estate agent.
There have also been some cases of property managers asking for a hike in rent, including for partitioned villas, by anything between QR250 and QR700, it is learnt. They say such hikes have been necessitated by inflated water and electricity bills.
However, for a majority of tenants, the rise in utility bills has not affected their rents yet.
This is the easiest way for anyone with little qualifications to make money
People fed up with commission agents..!!
First because there is a real estate mafia here ... As far as deposit etc are concerned , this is normal all over the world
before any discussion, can anyone tell me why one should pay half month comission ? what kind of robbery is this?this ppl (so called freelancher or agents) just inform customers about vacant units but dont take any responsibility if any maintannace needed..so why they charge this huge comission? and how can it be stopped? is this really legal in qatar?
i m living in madina khalifa south.rent is 5500..but first month i had to pay rent in advance...securty deposit..and this comission..so i ahad to pay appx 14000 qar....so now u can see why ranting a flat is sooooo difficult in qatar..even ezdan is doing the same(no comission)
nido78: right away sir :-)
There must be an official low to reduce the rent based on the contract from 20 to 30%.
There must be an official low to reduce the rent based on the contract from 20 to 30%.
There must be an official low to reduce the rent based on the contract from 20 to 30%.
i'm sure it will affect some people adversely and some positively; but i hope to god that any owner or agent or middle man that has been greedy and exploitative feels maximum pain from the situation; i have no personal issues i live by myself but have met enough families and others who have been exploited by greedy and scheming owners/agents and i want the latter to taste their own medicine...losers...
As many families go home, the number of vacant units will increase. The question is whetgher the owners / landlords will lower the rents...
I doubt it..
@zackm, well u r right my friend, but I am just EXAGGERATING; truly reflected to the rental markets here in Qatar - as it is overly EXAGGERATED. :D
Hope it drops down further by 30%, high rent prices are damaging all sectors in the country and inflation was souring through the roof
Well i am not agree with this, rent is still on higher site, although plenty of villa's are empty. Owerns are not agree to reduce the rent small room with attahed bath still in QR 3000.. i thing this is the fix rate in qatar for a single room in all areas..
Though have vacant most of the owners are not interested to reduced price.. Last 8Days I have seen 20 Portions 1Bhk and Studio, either price is high or portion is not good.. Incident1: Very small room with kitchen offering 3000 Qr incident2: 1 bhk outhouse offering for 4000Qr not reduce atleast to 3500
Incident3: 1 bhk unfurnished in 1bhk real estate they offering 6500..
Incident4: spoke to one broker and ask him reduce price but he was telling that demand is high so we are not ready to reduce but last 10days that house is not rented..
Either they to give good price or stop construction of new villa it can be solution for this..
A passing phase ........................................
A good knock from god for the greedy landlords
It is good to know that at least at these times the rents are coming down. Truly said by "zackm", Qatar has the worst property market when it comes to renting out. People come from other countries to make their living better. They work hard make some handsome money so that they can help their families and fulfill their dreams. Yes, people like me believe in this, rather then earning money just to enjoy life. If we start spending the hard earned money especially on rents then what is the use of leaving our country and people behind?. A better country is build by foreigners so make them easy to live a better life.
@Perdian...it is the wild west, you can charge whatever you want...There is no regulated property market here and this is the worst property market I have ever seen. Now the trend is rents are going down...there isn't many people to rent any more too....they keep building more villas for partitioning and more apartments everywhere...but do you see surge of hiring...I highly doubt that! So who is going to rent all these empty villas and apartments?
Well, I say to agents/real state owners - do not get dismayed; it is just a minor set back. Please try to increase the rent more so you can get better profits! do not think of lowering it, does not make any sense - since the Market in real state now is striving and growing .. and growing .. and growing ..?
Well, sure enough these tell the tales on how high the rents were. However, we are yet to hear how the top tier real estate corporates are coping. Have their rents gone down too? All that we see covered in these news are the common or average level agents or estates.