Total real estate transactions (local and foreign transactions) recorded 12,948 transactions worth $1.62B by March, declining 18.23% year-on-year (y-o-y). Following a 16.26 % partial recovery of real estate transactions by March 2014, and yet still lower than a healthy level recorded in 2010, overall activity witnessed by the first three months of the year lagged behind y-o-y mainly due to the frequent strife in the region.
In contrast, figures revealed that foreigners’ share of total real estate transactions went up yearly from 1.48% to 2.37% by March 2015. This could be consistent with foreigners viewing Lebanon as a more likely haven within the region as tourism improved by 23.12% over the mentioned period.
On another note, average value of real estate transactions went down by 3.39% from $129,762 to $125,362 in the same period last year. It might be that falling demand for real estate coupled with the instability of oil prices could have a downward weight on the average value per transaction.
Total Real Estate Transactions by March
Source: Cadastre