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Mazaya Monthly Real Estate Report -
Week 3 - January 2017
The Qatari realty sector is working
on two levels: meeting domestic
housing demand and implementing
government’s plans to draw more
foreign investments. The report
referred to the FIFA World Cup 2020
as a robust market catalyst, with
plans underway to increase housing
units up to 65,000 by the end of 2019.
The report highlighted the balance
between housing supply and population
growth in the UAE where the markets
are witnessing a well-calculated supply
of new housing units that meet different
types of needs and demand. Recent data
showed that houses were added to the
market to meet the population growth –
5,000 in Dubai and 12,000 in Abu Dhabi.
In the meantime, population growth in
Dubai was estimated at 6.4% and 7% in
Abu Dhabi last year, which led to a decline
in housing sales as a direct result of
falling oil prices, the slump in investors’
activities, slower government spending
and the negative impact of a stronger
dollar that pushed property prices up
and discouraged foreign investors.
The report shed light on the Gulf
realty markets that are experiencing
population growth and increasing
demand for residential units with
reference to the high population growth
rates in Saudi Arabia, including the
rising number of working expatriates
across all the economic sectors. The
KSA government has been planning to
increase housingsupplyby 7%annually
by providing 1.5 million homes to cater
to different types of demand, indicated
the report. The government, as part
of the Saudization Programme, seeks
to raise Saudi families’ ownership of
property from 47% to 52% by the year
2020, noting that the capital of Riyadh
currently witnesses the highest level
of demand for low-cost housing units.
Recent statistics showed that the
number of Saudi citizens amounted
to 20 million by the end of 2015, while
expats are estimated at 11 million - an
annual population growth of 2.11%.
A set of solutions has been developed to
meet increasing population growth rates
in Qatar, including raising the number of
residential and commercial units. This
will drive a building and construction
spree over the medium-term, particularly
with regards to affordable housing
projects that address some segments
of society. Further, the report attributed
the real estate investment boom in Qatar
to the increasing population growth
rates which exceeded 9% in early 2016,
giving more momentum to the Qatari
economy, currently considered among
the world’s fastest growing economies.