KUWAIT: The real estate sector in Kuwait appears to have improved in the second quarter of the year going up by 3.1 percent with the private housing sector in specific jumping to 2.4 percent. According to the Justice Ministry’s documentation and registration data, the value of real estate trades in the second quarter reached around KD 857 million (around $2.8 billion).

A number of experts said that the real estate housing played a significant role in boosting numbers in the second quarter, as was the investment real estate sector (apartment buildings), which saw a significant action during the summer vacation season. As per their statements, the private housing sector’s 2.4 percent increase reflected the KD 321.9 million (around $1 million) pumped into this sector. The average number of real estate deals was around KD 540,000 (around $1.7 million), which is an increase by 243 percent from the first quarter of 2018.

Head of Al-Delijan real estate office Suleiman Al-Delijan said the average trading at the local real estate sector in the first quarter was at KD 1.6 billion ($5.2 billion) as oppose to 2017’s KD 2.6 billion ($8.5 billion) during the same period. He predicted that the level of dealings within this sector as a whole would slightly improve if the local market maintained or increase the numbers coming out of the second quarter.

Hotels and hotel apartments
Delijan said that operations at hotels and hotel apartments went up by 65 and 50 percent respectively in the past few months thanks to an increasing number of GCC tourists. The dealings in the investment real estate sector took the lion share in the local market compromising around 42 percent of the trades in the first quarter, he said. The housing sector came second with 37 percent followed by the commercial sector by 15 percent.

Meanwhile, Director General of Athra Real Estate Company Maitham Al-Shakhs the real estate sector was positively affected by the finalizing of various infrastructural developments especially by Al-Mutla city, Sabah Al-Ahmad, and south Sabah Al-Ahmad housing projects. He commended the positive developments and hope for more progress in the upcoming period.
In the meantime, secretary of Real Estate Union Kuwait Qais Al-Ghanim though numbers are promising, judging the state of real estate in Kuwait could be solely based on improving trade numbers and values. Some investors benefited from what he describe as “weak but moderate dealings rate” noting that the most action real estate-wise was seen in the capital governorate’s commercial real estate.

Fourth largest buyers
In other news, recent real estate statistical data has shown yesterday that the Kuwaitis were the fourth largest foreign real estate buyers in Turkey in August 2018. Kuwaitis bought 271 real estate properties in Turkey last month, ranking fourth after Iraqis, 944, Iranians, 394, Saudis, 275, and ahead of Russians, who bought 192, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute’s data report.

Real estate sales to foreigners in Turkey reached 3,866 in August, an increase by 129.6 percent compared to the same month in 2017. Istanbul topped the list of cities targeted by foreign real estate buyers with a total of 1,141 sold properties in August, followed by Antalya, 675, then Bursa, 307, Ankara, 305, and Yalova, 263.

Meanwhile, real estate general sales in Turkey have reached a total of 105,154 units in August, a decrease by 12.5 percent compared to the same month in 2017.As for real estate sales of August 2018, Istanbul had also the highest share of house sales with 14.5 percent or 15,262 houses, followed by Ankara with 9,291 house sales, Izmir, 5,064, and Hakkari, which was the least provinces in sold real estates, with 14 house sales. – KUNA

 
 
 
 
 
This article was published on 19/09/2018

All rights reserved. © Kuwait Times Newspaper 2018 Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

Disclaimer: The content of this article is syndicated or provided to this website from an external third party provider. We are not responsible for, and do not control, such external websites, entities, applications or media publishers. The body of the text is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither we nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this article. Read our full disclaimer policy here.