During the first 2 months of 2016, real estate activity witnessed a positive performance as the total number of real estate transactions rose by 22.7% y-o-y to reach 12,335. Also, the total value of these transactions inched up by a yearly 23.4% from $1.09B by February 2015 to settle at $1.35B by February this year. Accordingly, the average value per transaction went up from $108,870 by February 2015 to $109,445 by February 2016.
However, figures revealed that foreigners’ share of the total number of real estate transactions went down from 2.0% by February 2015 to 1.7% by February 2016. This could be partly due to the recent diplomatic developments with Saudi Arabia which could have negatively impacted real estate activity of GCC nationals in Lebanon.
As for the regional breakdown, Beirut grasped 32.2% of total real estate transactions’ value by February 2016 and was followed by Metn and Baabda with respective shares of 14.5% and 11.2%. In terms of volume, North of Lebanon ranked first with 2,290 transactions (or 18.6% of the total) and was tracked by Metn (9.7% of the total) and Baabda (8.2% of the total).
The average value per real estate transaction was the highest in each of Beirut ($657,875), Metn ($164,220) and Baabda ($149,562). In contrast, the lowest average values per real estate transaction were recorded in Akkar ($18,216), Rachaya ($16,383), and Baalbeck ($11,044).
While built units’ transactions constituted 47% of total property transactions by February 2016, land transactions grasped the remaining share of 53%. It is worth noting that the former posted an 18.13% y-o-y rise by February 2016 to 5,857 transactions, while the latter added a yearly 27.16% to 6,478.
The average land transaction value registered a 12.7% increase to $80,303 by February 2016, compared to $71,265 by February 2015. This was mainly caused by the 58% (y-o-y) increase in the average value per land transaction in Beirut ($5.55M) by February 2016. Besides Beirut ranking first on the regional level, the highest average values per land transaction were recorded in the Southern region ($156,000) and Metn ($150,241). The lowest values per land transaction were registered in Marjeoun ($14,888), Akkar ($12,497), and Baalbeck ($10,059).
Total Number of Real Estate Transactions by February
SOURCE: Cadastre