Qatar’s real estate sector is expected to see more growth, especially in the beginning of next year, due to various factors, including the government support and legislative changes on the ownership of properties by foreign investors, which is likely to encourage investments in this sector.
“The Qatari real state sector witnessed some decline from the middle of 2017 but still the value of transactions remains almost the same,” said Khalifa Al Maslamani, a Qatari real estate expert.
“The monthly value of sales is currently around QR1bn, and the weekly transaction value is between QR250m and QR300m,” Al Maslamani said.
“There are many ongoing projects in the country, and from time to time the government keeps announcing new projects worth hundreds of millions. These new projects are going to create additional demand for the construction sector which means the real state sector will continue to grow,” he added. There are many ongoing projects, especially the ones related to World Cup 2022 and the Qatar National Vision 2030, which are attracting foreign investors to Qatar and a number of companies from across the world are taking part in these projects.
According to the new draft-law, Qatar is going to introduce bold reforms by liberalising its economy to non-Qatari investors who may invest in all economic sectors up to 100 percent of the capital, and they may own no more than 49 percent of the share capital of Qatari listed companies on the Qatar Exchange, after the approval of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce on the percentage proposed in the Company’s memorandum of association and articles of association. Also, Qatar has further eased its visa policies.
Earlier, Dr. Khalid Rashid Al Khater, a specialist in monetary policy and political economy, said: “The combined value of a number of ongoing infrastructure development projects related to World Cup 2022 is about QR200bn.”
Regarding the current situation, Al Maslamani said that there are no apprehensions among investors about the Qatari real estate market because there are more construction projects in coming years which will create further demand.
The Peninsula
19/06/2018
