Chris Speller, Group Director of Cityscape
Doha: The byproduct of a successful economy is its residential real estate (real property) market, Chris Speller (pictured), Group Director of Cityscape said, adding that Qatar will witness a sustained growth in its real property sector post-FIFA World Cup 2022.
Talking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of the Cityscape Qatar 2022 which concluded recently, Speller said the country’s realty sector, currently valued at $5bn, will continue to grow after the hosting of the mega sports event this year.
Speaking about the future of Qatar’s real estate sector, Speller said: “When we see any major event actually happening in some market, there’s a huge influx because that focus of the international eye go wow. And they will do. Because I think what Qatar had planned around the World Cup will turn everybody’s head, and will really focus to see the opportunity over here. The real estate sector will see perhaps a little spike. And then afterwards it may level and just have a consistent growth, but that will be a sustained growth.
“So I think where the ambition of the country is to create that economic diversification, even as we see with QatarEnergy’s focus on more sustainable products, these will drive new types of investments into Qatar. And the byproduct of a successful economy is actually your residential real estate market. Because if you’re getting more companies, you’re getting more SMEs, and more organisations, they need somewhere to live. So I think you will see a spike in the residential post-World Cup,” added Speller.
He said Qatar’s real estate and infrastructure sectors are already seeing an uptick from international investors relocating to the country.
“At the moment we’re seeing more focus on huge quantities of new hotels and hospitality this year. However, what we have seen in the local market is that the individual villa plots have also increased significantly, say 52 percent increase at the moment. There’s a different type of investor at the moment that they’re attracting into Qatar, those who want to come and live here. Those who want to establish businesses and try to get themselves set-up and organised so they become residents of Qatar,” said Speller.
He added: “What we’re also seeing are some international investors coming in who are looking at infrastructure. So post-World Cup, a large part of that is around smart cities, technology, and sustainability”.
According to Speller, the realty market in the region is also witnessing new trends post-blockade and post-pandemic.
He said: “What we’re seeing across the GCC, and right across the Mena region including Egypt as well, developers are changing a little bit of how they actually work as organisations. They are continuing to be the master developer in their local market, but they’re also exporting their skillset. So, Qatari Diar has a huge master project over in Egypt, and you’re seeing Qetaifan Projects actually doing some other relationships in other regions around the market, also going over into Saudi Arabia.
“So they’re using real estate and their expertise that they’ve learned here as an import and an export to drive inbound investments, but also to seek new financial opportunities elsewhere around the region,” added Speller.
Asked on whether the real estate market has already exceeded its pre-pandemic levels, Speller said: “I talked to many of the developers, I think they are seeing gradual returns, whether it’s back to the pre-pandemic, I’m not sure. I think what’s going to happen is there are still more announcements to be made around new development opportunities. When that starts to happen, you’ll see a growth set. As soon as you put more products into the market, you see a saturation and a spike around that as well,” he added.
Going forward, Speller said there will be adjustments in the real estate market in Qatar next year.
“Two different things a real estate developer looks at: construction delivery and construction ambition. Qatar has National Vision 2030. As soon as the World Cup has been delivered, the country can get back to its focus on driving inbound investment. And I am quite confident, that come 2023 we will start to see a growth in the Cityscape show again, with the local market coming back in, because they have something new to tell the world,” added Speller.
