What is the state of the real estate sector in Lebanon today? Why is it still stagnating? "spree"؟
Historically, the Lebanese citizen looks at real estate It served as a safe haven for him and his family, and the purchase of real estate was never available to all Lebanese, especially in the post-civil war and reconstruction phase, as a result of real estate remaining at its high prices, as it was the share of expatriates and financiers, while the average and low-income had to wait either to obtain a loan from Housing Bank, borrowing from private banks with high interest rates, or traveling to work outside Lebanon in order to buy a property in Beirut, while the state has been absent from a policy of supporting the right to housing over the past years.
But during the past two years, with the insane rise of the dollar exchange rate in relation to the Lebanese pound, prices in the real estate market fell and the price of apartments declined with it. In the capital, Beirut, for example, the price of a small property in popular areas fell from $150,000 to about 60,000.
Despite this drop, it became more difficult for the citizen to buy the apartment due to the high exchange rate of the dollar, and his inability to buy hard currency on the black market.
A real estate expert, general manager of a company, says: "Century 21 Lebanon" Ahmed Al-Khatib, that there is a decrease in real estate prices by 30-40% in Lebanon, but "Rental returns have recently risen from 0.5% to 1.25 percent".
Expected a breakdown "Sky News Arabia": "This stage is witnessing more media intimidation, especially the news that provided information about the drop in apartment prices to an average of 80 percent as is currently rumored, and the spread of the rumor of real estate in exchange for medicine, hospitalization and food".
Duration: "What you get is a decrease in the cash payment for the price of the property. Actually, the buyer aspires to buy a quarter of the amount of money compared to the previous situation, so whoever owns the property currently is reluctant to sell it at a low price and prefers to keep it for his children as a fixed value and a safe balance"pointing out that "The situation is currently limited to selling mortgaged properties to banks, if any".
Khatib said: "In Beirut, the decline reached the level of 35 percent of the previous value of real estate, and what exceeded that was according to some people having to sell at a low price according to the need for cash, and these are exceptional cases, which positively affected rents.".
He explained that "At the beginning of the crisis, rents were low, but today prices have improved in luxury areas such as Verdun and Central BeirutShe recovered, albeit to a lesser extent than before".
The real estate expert advised those who have cash dollars to buy now, because "After two years, these numbers will disappear after this era ends next October, and the recession that dominated between 2020 and 2022 will diminish.".
Al-Khatib concluded by saying: "I am very optimistic because the Lebanese, despite the crises, can rise even at a minimum level, and there are many factors of optimism, most notably the exploration for gas in the Mediterranean, the plan for advancement supported by the World Bank, and other factors that will benefit Lebanon, especially after the issue of border demarcation in the south. With Israel and the start of gas exploration in the sea".
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With the deepening economic crisis in LebanonThe movement of buying and selling in the real estate market has declined, especially since most categories of the people do not have the cash dollar to buy the property despite the decrease in its prices by more than 50 percent, and the Lebanese also keep their dollars – if any – in anticipation of any surprise that could happen in the country.
What is the state of the real estate sector in Lebanon today? And why is it witnessing a stagnation after the “surge”?
Historically, the Lebanese citizen looks at real estate It served as a safe haven for him and his family, and the purchase of real estate was never available to all Lebanese, especially in the post-civil war and reconstruction phase, as a result of real estate remaining at its high prices, as it was the share of expatriates and financiers, while the average and low-income had to wait either to obtain a loan from Housing Bank, borrowing from private banks with high interest rates, or traveling to work outside Lebanon in order to buy a property in Beirut, while the state has been absent from a policy of supporting the right to housing over the past years.
But during the past two years, with the insane rise of the dollar exchange rate in relation to the Lebanese pound, prices in the real estate market fell and the price of residential apartments declined with it. In the capital, Beirut, for example, the price of a small property in popular areas fell from $150,000 to about 60,000.
Despite this drop, it became more difficult for the citizen to buy the apartment due to the high exchange rate of the dollar, and his inability to buy hard currency on the black market.
Ahmed Al-Khatib, a real estate expert and general manager of Century 21 Lebanon, says that there is a decrease in real estate prices by 30 to 40 percent in Lebanon, but “rent returns have recently risen from 0.5 percent to 1.25 percent.”
Al-Khatib added to “Sky News Arabia”: “This stage is witnessing more media intimidation, especially the news that provided information about the drop in apartment prices to an average of 80 percent, as is currently rumored, and the spread of the rumor of real estate in exchange for medicine, hospitalization and food.”
He continued: “What is happening is a decrease in the cash payment for the price of the property. Actually, the buyer is covetous to buy a quarter of the money compared to the previous situation, so whoever owns the property is currently reluctant to sell it at a low price and prefers to keep it for his children as a fixed value and a safe balance,” noting that “the current situation is It is limited to selling mortgaged properties to banks, if any.”
Al-Khatib said: “In Beirut, the decline reached the level of 35 percent of the previous value of real estate, and what exceeded that was according to the fact that some had to sell at a low price according to the need for cash, and these are exceptional cases, which reflected positively on rents.”
He explained, “At the beginning of the crisis, rents were low, but today, prices have improved in luxury areas such as Verdun neighborhood and Central BeirutShe recovered, albeit to a lesser extent than before.
The real estate expert advised those who have cash dollars to buy now, because “after two years, these numbers will disappear after this era ends next October, and the recession that dominated between 2020 and 2022 will diminish.”
Al-Khatib concluded by saying: “I am very optimistic because the Lebanese, despite the crises, can rise even at a minimum, and there are many factors of optimism, most notably the exploration for gas in the Mediterranean, the recovery plan supported by the World Bank, and other factors that will benefit Lebanon, especially after The issue of the demarcation of the border in the south with Israel and the start of gas exploration operations in the sea began.