DOHA: An update on Qatar Central Bank’s (QCB) recently-launched real estate price index indicates that the country’s real estate sector has been largely stable over the past several months.
The index shows that the market was overall stable all along the first half of 2012, hovering on 150 plus levels throughout December 2011 to December 2012, after dipping to a low of 91.3 in April 2009 from a peak of 192.2 in August 2008.
Developers and market experts said the QCB initiative will help keep the amateur market players at bay and will support the professional investors in Qatar’s property market.
“The launch of the real estate index has helped stabilise the market. Earlier, the market was largely manipulated by the amateur market players. The QCB decision to generate the index will help the serious investors figure where the market is heading to,” said local real estate developer and market analyst Ali Al Hamaidi.
The market has been suffering for the past few years either by the intervention of amateur market players or the market manipulation by the professional market players. The QCB index has helped check the untoward market trend to a certain extent, he noted.
Qatar’s property market is largely controlled by self-styled property dealers. They should be primarily hold responsible for Qatar’s volatile market. The unprecedented hike in land prices is one of the key reasons for high rentals. These dealers have hiked the “Asking Price” of lands three times higher than the original price, in certain areas, said Saed Al Khayarin, another real estate developer.
“QCB’s initiative will certainly help maintaining the market stability, which is good for serious investors,” he said.
The mid-segment shop rentals, a sector in which the unprofessional agents are very active, is the most volatile segment. The space which were available for QR30,000 until recently have gone up to QR1m in Doha, because of the market manipulation, said another professional real estate developer.
The index will also provide the market direction to the real estate financiers, including the local banking sector. It will provide the necessary checks and balances as regards to credit flow to the real estate sector.
Given the January, February 2013 transaction data, Qatar’s real estate sector is expected to jump by 25 percent. Last week, (February 24-28) the real estate sector transaction crossed QR1.01bn, according to data released by the Ministry of Justice. The Peninsula
