Market Watch: Stay Updated on Qatar’s Real Estate Trends and Insights in 2023!

Curious about the Real Estate market trends in 2023, Property Finder has compiled a comprehensive report to give you a complete overview of the market.

The full version is just out; it includes the top highlights and insights of Qatar’s markets to help you have a quick yet data-based vision over the last period; let’s get into more details!

Highlights

Qatar has become one of the world’s wealthiest economies with a GDP per capita of $75,000 in 2023.
The nominal GDP is expected to reach nearly 840 Billion QAR by 2024 and almost 1,366 Billion QAR by 2028.
The real estate activities and construction sectors contribute significantly to GDP, though their share is expected to decrease slightly by 2028.
The establishment of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and the launch of the Qatar Real Estate Platform are important initiatives to regulate and digitise the real estate sector.

Market Performance

In 2023, new building permits in Qatar decreased by 11% to 7,912, down from 8,883 in 2022. This increase in 2021-22 was due to a backlog from COVID-19 and a new law allowing foreign companies to own property.

Property sales declined, with transactions dropping to 2,579 from 4,184 in 2022, and total value decreasing to 16,703 QAR from 21,204 QAR. Al Rayyan had the highest share of new permits at 26.7%, followed by Al Doha at 20.3%.

Al Doha recorded the highest sales value at 6.8 billion QAR, 40.8% of the total. Al Rayyan had the most transactions at 945, 26.4% of the total. Vacant land was the most common property type sold, at 50.5% of transactions and 38.6% of value.

Residential houses were the second most common, making up 41.3% of transactions and 32.6% of value.

Market Prospects

Ongoing Projects in Qatar

The residential and mixed-use real estate sectors had 157 ongoing projects worth $19.1 billion, accounting for 61.7% of total projects and 61.8% of total investments.
The private sector dominated development, contributing 92.6% of ongoing projects and 84.5% of $11 billion in investments.
Private sector projects were concentrated in Al Daayen, Al Rayyan and Al Doha (85% of total investment).
Government development was focused on 8 mega projects across 5 governorates, with Al Shamal (22%), Al Daayen (49.6%) and Ras Laffan (4 projects) seeing the most activity.
Lusail in Al Daayen accounted for 41.4% of total investments ($5.4 billion across 51 projects), all from private companies.
Pearl Qatar in Doha had 19 ongoing projects (17.6% of total) valued at $1.1 billion (10.1% of total).
Al Doha saw a relative decrease in new investments despite being the capital, possibly due to prior World Cup-driven development.
Overall, 62% of Qatar’s ongoing real estate projects have surpassed 50% completion, with 24% nearing +90% completion.

Launched Projects in 2023

The number of newly launched real estate projects in Qatar declined from 25 in 2022 to 20 in 2023. However, the total value of new projects doubled in 2023 to $1.8 billion, due to 3 major government projects worth $1.13 billion.
The private sector accounted for 85% of the newly launched projects in 2023.
The government invested heavily, owning 64.1% of the total value of newly launched projects.
Al Daayen had the highest number (11) and value (85%) of newly launched projects in 2023, due to a $1 billion government project.
The number of project owners declined from 22 in 2022 to 15 in 2023.
The Qatari government invested $1 billion (56.7% of 2023 total) in the Al Rawdah & Academy project in Al Daayen.
Ariane Real Estate launched the most new projects in 2023 with 4 projects valued at $267 million (15.1% of 2023 total).

Delivered Projects in 2023

In 2023, a total of 514 real estate projects were successfully delivered in Qatar, with a combined value of $4.5 billion.
This represents a 153% increase in the volume of projects delivered compared to 2022, but a 22% decline in total value.
38% of the delivered projects were located in Al Wakra, accounting for 42% of the total value.
Al Rayyan had 22% of the delivered projects, but they only accounted for 4.6% of the total value.
The private sector delivered the majority (99%) of the 509 projects, valued at $4.1 billion.
The government sector delivered 5 projects valued at $388 million.

Market Trends

Sales in 2023

The top listed communities for apartment buyers in 2023 were The Pearl Island, Lusail City, Fox Hills, Marina District, and West Bay.
The top preferred areas for villa buyers were The Pearl Island, Al Thumama, Al Dafna, Rawdat Al Hamama, and Al Kheesa.
There was an 8% increase in overall real estate performance in Qatar in 2023.
This was largely driven by stronger performance in H1 2023, with a 12.3% YoY increase.
Apartment prices jumped 36% and villa prices increased 11.4% in H1 2023 compared to H1 2022.
This marks the first year of positive growth in the Qatar real estate market after three years of declines.

Sales Market Trends for Apartments and Villas

Sales Market Trends for Apartments in 2023
The average listed price for apartments in Qatar increased by 8% in 2023 compared to 2022.

Sales Market Trends for Villas in 2023
In summary, villa sales prices across Qatar saw a 5% overall increase in 2023, with larger homes in certain high-end areas like Al Thumama, Al Dafna, and Pearl Island experiencing particularly strong price growth.

Rental Market Trends for Apartments and Villas

Rental Market Trends for Apartments in 2023
Overall, the apartment rental market saw significant price contractions, but certain areas like Al Sadd, Lusail City, and West Bay maintained stronger ROIs, indicating continued investor interest.

Rental Market Trends for Villas in 2023
The villa rental market saw mixed performance, with West Bay Lagoon 3-bedroom villas bucking the overall downward trend, while larger villas in areas like Al Gharrafa and Al Waab saw more significant declines.