Residential supply stable

12,000 apartments sold in first half

Residential property’ development has witnessed a stable supply in Beirut and its suburbs, as well as in Metn, Baabda, Kesrouan, and Aley. The number of new residential buildings under construction in these areas grew by 3.7 percent over the first six months of the year, to 1,530 buildings with 15,000 apartments in total. New buildings at different stages of completion in these areas totaled 332. These figures were released by InfoPro Research following an extensive field survey performed last month. All buildings are featured in this month’s issue of Properties, a bi-annual publication by InfoPro.

Abdullah Saleh, Managing Partner at Brokers XP, said: “Construction activity in general has slowed down as investors are no longer interested in starting real estate projects because they know they will not sell.” But, he said, demand is still active in some areas: “Supply depends on a number of considerations, like the neighborhood. For example, expatriates who work in Africa prefer to buy apartments across the strip between the Airport Road and Ain el-Tineh, so developments in these areas are still doing well.”

Around 12,000 apartments were sold during the first six months of the year in Beirut and its suburbs, Metn, Baabda, Kesrouan, and Aley. Developments in these areas represent around 60 percent of the overall residential market.

Saleh said demand is still gearing towards small-sized apartments within Beirut and its suburbs. “In high-end residential- and commercial-use properties, active projects under construction are those that had taken a permit a couple of years ago, such as Damac Tower and Benchmark,” he said.