During the first quarter of 2016, real estate activity witnessed a positive performance as the total number of real estate transactions rose by 14.5% y-o-y to reach 19,640. Also, the total value of these transactions increased by a yearly 18.72% from $1.76B by March 2015 to $2.08B by March this year. Accordingly, the average value per transaction went up from $102,399 in Q1 2015 to $106,147 in Q1 2016.However, figures revealed that foreigners’ share of the total number of real estate transactions went down from 2.08% by March 2015 to 1.52% in Q1 2016.
As for the regional breakdown, Beirut grasped 27.98% of total real estate transactions’ value by March 2016 and was followed by Metn and Baabda with respective shares of 16.30% and 11.21%. In terms of volume, North of Lebanon ranked first with 3,410 transactions (or 17.36% of the total) and was tracked by Metn (10.68% of the total) and Baabda (8.15% of the total).
The average value per real estate transaction was the highest in each of Beirut ($582,625), Metn ($162,077) and Aley ($154,751). In contrast, the lowest average values per real estate transaction were recorded in Akkar ($17,686), Rachaya ($14,829), and Baalbeck ($11,964).
While built units’ transactions constituted 47% of total property transactions by March 2016, land transactions grasped the remaining share of 53%. It is worth noting that the former posted a 9.55% y-o-y rise by March 2016 to 9,256 transactions, while the latter added a yearly 19.37% to 10,384 over the same period.
The average land transaction value registered a 7.53% increase to $70,812 by March 2016, compared to $65,853 by March 2015. This was mainly caused by the increase in the average value per land transaction in Beirut registering $5.09M in Q1 2016, compared to $1.96M in Q1 2015. Besides Beirut ranking first on the regional level, the highest average values per land transaction were recorded in Metn ($144,790) and the Southern region ($131,855). The lowest values per land transaction were registered in Akkar ($13,829), Rachaya ($11,152), and Baalbeck ($10,038).
Total Number of Real Estate Transactions in Q1
Source: Lebanese Cadastre Registry