During the first five months of 2016, real estate activity witnessed a positive performance as the total number of real estate transactions rose by 7.62% y-o-y to reach 32,709. Also, the total value of these transactions increased by a yearly 8.77% from $3.14B by May 2015 to $3.41B by May this year. Accordingly, the average value per transaction went up from $103,154 by May 2015 to $104,249 by May 2016. However, figures revealed that foreigners’ share of the total number of real estate transactions went down from 2.03% by May 2015 to 1.52% by May 2016.
As for the regional breakdown, Beirut grasped 27.06% of total real estate transactions’ value by May 2016 and was followed by Metn and Baabda with respective shares of 13.30% and 10.27%. In terms of volume, North of Lebanon ranked first with 5,534 transactions (or 16.92% of the total) and was tracked by Metn (10.81% of the total) and Baabda (8.47% of the total).
The average value per real estate transaction was the highest in each of Beirut ($497,501), Metn ($128,357) and Baabda ($126,420). In contrast, the lowest average values per real estate transaction were recorded in Marjeyoun ($15,806), Rachaya ($12,688), and Baalbeck ($9,554).
In terms of value, land transactions constituted 51.23% of total property transactions by May 2016, while built units’ grasped the remaining share of 48.77%.
The average land transaction value registered a 4.29% increase to $67,000 by May 2016, compared to $64,245 by May 2015. This was mainly caused by the substantial increase in the average value per land transaction in Beirut registering $3.64M by May 2016, compared to $1.89M by May 2015. Besides Beirut ranking first on the regional level, the highest average values per land transaction were recorded in Metn ($152,170) and Baabda ($139,909) regions. The lowest values per land transaction were registered in Marjeyoun ($16,114), Rachaya ($11,400), and Baalbeck ($10,082).
Total Number of Real Estate Transactions by May
Source: Lebanese Cadastre Registry