The cost of renting a home in West Bay, Al Sadd, Bin Mahmoud and the Pearl-Qatar fell by thousands of riyals a month last year, a new real estate report said.
This was due to dropping demand and an increase in available housing units as a result of lower global oil prices, DTZ said in its Q4 2016 property report.
After a population boom in Qatar caused housing rent to surge in Doha for several years, layoffs and belt-tightening caused things to change in 2016, the report said.
Now, more residents are looking for better deals as more employers opt to offer allowances instead of taking out corporate leases on properties.
Some people are even relocating to good-quality, lower-priced housing options in “peripheral suburbs” such as Ain Khaled, Abu Hamour and Muaither.
Commercial real estate
Meanwhile, prime office rents fell by an average of 10 to 15 percent last year, as more properties came online and demand dropped.
However, just as with residential rents, commercial real estate recovered slightly in the fourth quarter of 2016.
This rally would “need to be maintained to avoid market oversupply levels in 2017 and beyond,” DTZ said.
But this looks unlikely as the entire QP district is expected to be completed this year, adding 230,000 sq m to West Bay’s supply.
And several office buildings in Lusail are also due for completion soon, adding some 134,000 sq m, DTZ said.
Hospitality struggling
Finally, with 1,800 hotel rooms and apartment hotels coming online in Qatar last year, competition has been fierce in the hospitality sector.
Falling tourist numbers in 2016 caused occupancy rates to drop to 61 percent in the first nine months of 2016, down 14 percent from the year before.
The new AlRayyan Hotel Doha Curio — A Collection by Hilton (next to Mall of Qatar)
“In order to maintain, or improve hotel performance measures, Qatar will need to place a heavy emphasis on the development of the tourism industry in the coming years,” DTZ said.
Officials are working to woo more visitors through cruise tourism, various festivals and by making it easier for more people to secure visas to enter the country.
Thoughts?
