ValuStrat introduced their residential price index for Qatar – the ValuStrat Price Index (VPI). The release coincides with the advent of company’s Q1 2018 report and Cityscape Qatar 2018.

‘…Currently, the Ministry of Justice records transactions in majority of the areas, however, it is not always possible to filter the statistics into useable components... Moreover, to identify price change amongst various time periods the basket of locations varies so it is difficult to ascertain if the price change is reflecting actual market sentiment or varying sample sizes. ValuStrat recognised the importance of constructing a representative quarterly price index that captures near real-time pricing, complimenting official transactional data. With the release of Residential VPI on a quarterly basis we can provide all stakeholders to the Qatar’s property sector with market intelligence and much needed insight …’ explains Pawel Banach MRICS-General Manager.

The ValuStrat Price Index is a proprietary model designed to accurately measure the quarterly price performance of a representative sample of residential properties in Qatar, effectively ‘marking to market’ the Qatar residential property sector every 12 weeks.

The VPI model involves determining opinions of value by qualified and experienced RICS valuers for a pre-defined sample comprising of a fixed basket of villas located in 13 areas as well as apartments located in 3 freehold areas throughout Qatar. The locations were determined by measuring their prevalence in the housing transactions within a citywide cleansed database over a four-year period. This insures a representative sample covering the most influential locations in Qatar in terms of market activity. The villas and apartments are actual units with clearly defined specifications, such as floor area, number of bedrooms, views, height and so on.

ValuStrat’s real estate market review for Q1 2018 concluded that since the ValuStrat Price Index began tracking in Q1 2016 Qatar residential prices have witnessed a continuous fall in values. By benchmarking the index from Q1 2016 at 100 points, now stand at 81.3 point at Q1 2018 indicating values declined by 1.6% QoQ and 9.4% YoY. The weighted average value of residential unit during Q1 2018 stands at QAR 8,955 per sq m (QAR 832 per sq ft), apartments stood at QAR 12,700 per sq m (QAR 1,180 per sq ft) and villas stood at QAR 7,091 per sq m (QAR 659 per sq ft). Freehold apartments in The Pearl saw most of the value correction followed by West Bay Lagoon and Lusail. The average value of apartments in The Pearl averaged at QAR 13,030 per sq m (QAR 1210 per sq ft) and in Lusail at QAR 12,256 per sq m (QAR 1,139 per sq ft). High end Villa locations also experienced the highest value declines namely: The Pearl, Al Waab, Al Dafna, Onaiza etc. As of Q1 2018, gross yields averaged at 4.8%, with 6.0 % for apartments and 4.2% for villas.

“…Qatar’s residential capital values have been declining for the last two years, however the rate of decline seems to have slowed over the last 12 months at a rate of less than 3% per quarter. It will be interesting to see how the VPI performs over the remaining quarters of 2018 in light of the current evidence of reduced transactions and with 13,000 residential units projected to be delivered by the end of 2018. …” said Anum Hasan, Market Research Analyst at ValuStrat.

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About ValuStrat

ValuStrat Qatar is part of a leading consulting firm providing Advisory, Valuation, Research, Due Diligence, and Divestment services across a diverse range of industry sectors since 1977. With an office network providing services to over 800 corporate clients including financial institutions, local corporates, multinationals, governments, SMEs, family businesses and start-ups. Some of the key sectors serviced by ValuStrat’s consulting team include real estate, hospitality, healthcare, education, manufacturing, retail, entertainment, transport, and FMCG.

About the ValuStrat Price Indices

The ValuStrat Price Index for Qatar’s residential sector is constructed to represent the quarterly price change experienced by typical residential units within Qatar. The VPI uses a weighted sample representing influential locations across the city and is built by our expert RICS Registered Valuers.

© Press Release 2018