A significant increase in real estate-related projects during the past year with mega-events hosted in the country has resulted in a rising number of global investments.
During the past few months, Qatar witnessed a rising number of tourists including investors and entrepreneurs embarking on Doha, which was recently named ‘Arab Tourism Capital 2023’. This has given a lot of opportunities to strengthen trade relations and boost Qatar’s economy.
In an interview with The Peninsula, Ahmad Al Khanji, Chief Executive Officer at Hapondo Real Estate firm, an online homegrown platform providing insights into real estate and housing properties said: “The second factor of GDP after hydro-carbon is the real estate sector. So it’s a very high priority. Moreover, Qatar aims to attract more foreign investments when it comes to real estate. So we will see a lot of people coming.”
He also stressed the quality and stability of life in Qatar, which welcomed many tourists and expats opting to reside and invest in one of the best destinations in the world. He said that “The advantage of Qatar is the stability. A lot of people appreciate the political stability, the economical stability, and the security and safety to live here. So the quality of life is very high here. That is something that attracts a lot of people to live here.” Albeit the residential market is anticipated to boost this year and bring more investors into the region, the rents in Qatar have not declined post-World Cup as expected.
Commenting on a recent investigative story by The Peninsula on the causes of rent-hike, Al Khanji said: “We’ve been expecting a boom during the World Cup that will generate a lot of interest in the real estate market especially when it comes to rental prices. When it comes to rental, it increased during the World Cup phase and we still see it up but we still expect to see a correction to these prices. I think gradually it’s going to happen throughout this year.” The real estate expert emphasised that landlords and brokers across the country will be forced to reduce the rent as the supply is increasing and the demand lures lower prices.
In its findings during the investigative report, the newspaper unfolded some of the primary reasons including real estate investments and landlords benefiting from events in Qatar in 2023, eventuating the leasing prices to remain steady post-World Cup.
A lot of residents commented on The Peninsula’s social media channels by blaming it on the middlemen and calling for mandatory government actions to carryout. However, the real estate official noted that the rents would certainly decrease this year by around 10 to 20 percent.
“It will be gradual. It will take time but throughout this year we can see a gradual decrease. By April we should see prices dropping. Because we know approximately more than 8000 properties will be available in the market,” he said.
Hapondo.qa, Qatar’s first homegrown real estate company targets offering a seamless user experience and also aims to improve the quality of the realty sector by providing informative facts and figures on the market and also advertises available properties to lease and purchase. Al Khanji highlighted the firm’s goal for 2023 is to focus on technology, to make the website more intuitive, and also to help people grasp information much easier as foreign investments surges in the State of Qatar.
Source : ThePeninsulaQatar