Realty market set to grow ahead of 2022 World Cup

Qatar is expected to see strong growth prospects in its residential property market, ahead of 2022 FIFA World Cup, despite the ongoing low transactions, according to Asteco.“Based on our latest residential market report, the outlook for Qatar’s residential property market is positive. This can be attributed to its stable political environment, its strong economy, and the developments planned in preparation for the World Cup in 2022, which will transform the face of Qatar,” Elaine Jones, CEO, Asteco Property Management, said.

 
Finding that modest leasing activity characterises Qatar’s property sector over the second quarter (Q2) of this year, the Asteco report said overall average apartment rents in Qatar ranged from QR4,000 per month to QR14,000 for two-bedroom properties showing little change from the first quarter (Q1).
Rents remained stable, particularly in apartment rental areas such as Al Sadd and the Pearl-Qatar, with average two-bedroom apartment rents of QR6,250 a month and QR13,000 respectively, showing no movement from Q1 2011. The one and three bedroom market saw rent increase in a number of areas, it said, adding the majority of the enquiries are from people working in large corporations that are expanding or beginning new operations in Qatar.

Observing that leasing activity on Pearl-Qatar is strong and rents have remained stable since the previous quarter, it said “the slowdown in new units coming to the market has been one of the contributing factors to the stabilisation, coupled with Pearl-Qatar beginning to emerge as the preferred choice to live due to its contemporary living style and increased amenities as development phases continue.”

The activity on the Pearl-Qatar is set to strengthen in the coming months as new retail outlets come on line, Asteco said, adding Spinneys is expected to take up a temporary space by August, which will remove the necessity to travel to West Bay for grocery shopping and result in an increase of demand.
Although villa rentals remained steady, there were some marginal increases in prices in Al Dafna, it said. “This ongoing popularity is attributed to various factors including strong employment opportunities, the prevalence of large individual villas and beach access, with the area attracting senior expatriate staff, wealthy Qataris and diplomats,” it added.

Finding that sales transactions within residential sector in Qatar were low over the last quarter, it said “a gap remains between primary and secondary prices, although primary prices have stabilised and in some cases marginal increases in secondary process have been seen.”
Most prospective buyers are Western expatriates, GCC residents and there have been some enquiries from Qatari nationals who are primarily looking at distress properties, Asteco said.
In the commercial property sector, it said office rental rates showed a marginal decline of 3% over the previous quarter, but some areas have remained strong, including the B Ring Road area, which saw an increase of QR5 per square metre.

In September 2009, the Urban Planning Authority barred the use of residential villas as commercial office space and this is still leading to a large number of businesses and companies to relocate into commercial district, which results in a slowdown in the decrease of rental rates.
“In addition, the drop in rental rates has generates as increase in demand for office space, particularly for Grade A office stock mostly located in the Business district,” the report said.

The Pearl Qatar

  

Average apartment rent (qr/pm)
LOCATION    1 BR       2 BR       3 BR
Al Sadd          4,750    6,250       7,375
Bin Mahmoud 4,000    5,500       7,125
Al Muntazah   3,500   5,000       6,250
Najma             3,500   5,000       6,500
West Bay/Dafna 7,000 9,750 13,250
Al Mamoura    4,250   5,500    6,375
Bin Omran      4,250   5,500    6,250
Old Airport    4,750    6,250    6,500
Pearl-Qatar   9,500   13,000  16,250

Qatar's New Stadiums and New Infrastructure for 2022 FIFA World Cup

Qatar’s World Cup strategy includes continued infrastructure development, which will not only enable visitors and residents to enjoy the tournament, but will provide the foundation for future growth and national development.
Qatar has pledged to spend as much as $70 billion to build and expand a world-class infrastructure network. Although much of Qatar’s road network was built during the past 10 years, the government has committed $20 billion to expanding the network until 2016. These commitments include major new roads connecting the New Doha International Airport to all cities in Qatar, and also the new motorway to neighboring Bahrain by 2015.
Air transport capacity is also set to dramatically increase when New Doha International Airport opens and replaces the current international airport in 2012. With two new runways expanding capacity for handling both passenger arrivals (from 15 million passengers per year, to 50 million), and freight traffic (from 360,000 tons, to 2 million), Qatar will be in the position to accommodate the influx of air passengers which can be as high as 60,000 to 80,000 in the ten hours before and after matches.
For the first time, Qatar is also developing a world-class rail network after Qatar Railways Company (RAIL) and Deutsche Bahn signed a $26 billion agreement in 2009. The agreement set out a joint venture to construct an environmentally friendly and attractive metro network in Doha, with four lines connecting 98 stations across 300 kilometres. Depending on the need, the lines will run through tunnels, at ground level and as an overhead railway, and will connect major locations such as New Doha Airport, the Lusail City urban development area, Education City and West Bay.
The agreement also set out plans for a long-distance network that will provide mobility for passengers and freight, with links to neighboring countries Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The long-distance network will include a 180-kilometer long high-speed line to Bahrain, with a top speed of 350 km/h, and a 100 km passenger transport line to Saudi Arabia with speeds of up to 200 km/h. In all, the plans call for 325 km freight transport network, with 270 km used by passenger services.
Finally, Qatar’s World Cup strategy envisions the construction of over 55,000 hotel additional hotel rooms to manage the influx of World Cup guests. There are already plans to double the supply of rooms in hotels and guest apartments by 2022 to cover the everyday requirements of an economy, and the government, as part of its Qatar National Vision 2030 economic diversification policies, intends to contribute substantial investment in excess of $17 billion in the next five years alone to add to Qatar’s existing 45,000 hotel rooms. The Qatari government has also pledged to construct 64 “team base camp” facilities, which include 32 hotels and 32 training sites to accommodate every team.

Al Gharafa Stadium

Al Khor Stadium

Al Rayan Stadium

Al Shamal Stadium

Al Shamal Stadium

Al Wakrah Stadium

 

 

 

 Photos taken from: WAN

Ramadan in Coming, Register now for Hajj Online

Residents who plan to go to Hajj from Qatar are required to apply online before Ramadan. The number of people allowed to make pilgrimage to Mecca is determined by Saudi Arabia. The Hajj Committee of Qatar then regulates the quota it receives for the country.

For more info and registration procedure, kindly visit this link [CLICK ME]

New deluxe hotel opens

Senior executives from Hospitality Management Holdings (HMH) recently congregated at Corp Executive Hotel Doha Suites to celebrate the soft opening of the hotel.
Ahmad Ali al-Kuwari, Chairman, Al Kuwari International Group and owner of Corp Executive Hotel Doha Suites welcomed the delegation with a heartfelt speech. He observed: “Qatar is increasingly positioning itself as first-class financial and tourism destination in the region. This presents us with a unique opportunity that’s driving demand for quality hotels. Corp Executive Hotels is an outstanding brand specially designed for business travellers and we are delighted to be the first ones to flag it off in Qatar.” Al Kuwari International Group has several other projects under development.
Michel Noblet, President & CEO, HMH thanked the hosts for their warm welcome and hospitality and said: “The resilience of Qatari market in the face of the global slowdown has everything to do with the growth of the country’s economy. In just the first quarter of this year, Qatar has attracted over 1.8 million visitors which highlights the hotel sector’s potential. We are truly glad to be in this booming destination and are keen to develop more hotels.”
The evening highlights included a show-around of the newly opened deluxe hotel conveniently located just 5 minutes from Doha International Airport and Doha Corniche. The hotel offers 60 luxurious suites equipped with outstanding facilities and the latest technology including dual-line phones and voice messaging, high speed Internet connections, digital flat screen LCD televisions and satellite channels among other features.
The hotel has two restaurants, conference facilities, business centre, a roof-top swimming pool, male and female Moroccan bath and steam room and a fully-equipped gym.

Fifa World Cup 2022 Host Country

The Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup bid is the successful proposal from the government of Qatar to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Qatar, with a population of 1.69 million people, will be the first Arab state to host the World Cup.^[1] Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, son of the present Emir of Qatar, was the chairman of the bid committee.^[2] Qatar promoted their hosting of the tournament as representing the Arab World, and has drawn support from across the member states of the Arab League. They also positioned their bid as an opportunity to bridge the gap between the Arab World and the West.^[3]
Qatar gave a feel of what the World Cup would be like by holding a friendly match between Brazil and Argentina.^[4] Furthermore, people coming from different nations visited Qatar for this match and strengthened the image Qatar would depict of their interest in the World Cup 2022. Additionally, Qatar hosted the 2011 Asian Cup which had the lowest attendance for the cup in 11 years, since the tournament was held in Lebanon.^[5] It was considered a warm-up for 2022.
President of FIFA Sepp Blatter endorsed the idea of having a World Cup in the Arab World, saying in April 2010, "The Arabic world deserves a World Cup. They have 22 countries and have not had any opportunity to organise the tournament." Blatter also praised Qatar's progress, "When I was first in Qatar there were 400,000 people here and now there are 1.6 million. In terms of infrastructure, when you are able to organise the Asian Games (in 2006) with more than 30 events for men and women, then that is not in question."^[6] On 2 December 2010, it was announced that Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.<sup>[7]

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_2022_FIFA_World_Cup_bid</sup>

Rental rate ‘declined in second quarter’

Weak demand growth and a continuous rise in supply have led to a “slight” ease in rents in Qatar in the second quarter (Q2) of this year, according to a Century 21 report.
The report also found that mid and long-term returns of real estate projects over the next few years are “feasible” despite the current imbalance of supply and demand.
“Overall, change in apartment rental rates over the months of Q2 was slightly negative,” it said.
The highest declines were seen in Bin Omran (more than 4%) while areas such as Al Matar and Bin Mahmoud saw a positive growth of 2% and 1% respectively, it said.
The average growth of apartment rental rates in the entire areas understudy has registered a positive 5% increase during April 2011 and two consecutive declines in the next months (May and June) at 1% and 5%, respectively, Century 21 said, adding, hence, apartment rents declined 1% in Doha over Q2 of this year.
“Rent declines are expected to continue over the next two months (summer vacation), while activity will rise after the end of the Holy month of Ramadan and before the start of school season,” it said.
However, villa rents have seen a better performance than apartments where some villa areas saw growth of rents; it said observing that the highest decline in rents was seen in Ain Khaled and Muraikh at 8% and 6% respectively, while Al Waab area saw the highest growth at 7%.
Overall, change in villa rents over Q2 recorded an increase of 1% in April and two consecutive declines of 1% during May and June. Hence, villa rents in Doha declined 1% between April and June 2011, it said.
On real estate transactions, it found that the total value recorded during Q2 of this year reached approximately QR7bn over 12 weeks starting from the beginning of April 2011. The last four weeks (May 29th to June 25th) have seen QR2.3bn in real estate purchases registered which is a relatively high figure.
Exceptional transactions at high prices were seen more often in investment areas such as Al Sadd, Bin Mahmoud and Al Dafnah. In addition, the market witnessed a number of deals to sell commercial and residential multi-storey buildings, of which one tower at least in the West Bay area, it said.
“Though growing continuously, the volume of real estate transactions remains modest as transactions are limited to local traders while foreign investments are yet to come,” it said.
On the commercial office rental market, Century 21 said high volume of supply and the continuous delivery of office space in the market are “still casting a long shadow over office rental rates”.
Leasing rates have seen declines of 2% on a monthly basis over the months of Q2 2011. In total, office leasing rates saw almost 9% decline since the beginning of the year, it said, adding slow growth of demand is also delaying recovery of the commercial real estate sector.
However, the government is still trying to lend a hand to property owners by leasing their properties on a long term basis, it found.
Despite the current imbalance of supply and demand, studies indicate that mid and long-term returns of project over the next few years are feasible, thanks to government plans and a broad economic recovery anticipated.
“It is anticipated that the next months, after the seasonal holidays, demand will improve and a better performance will be witnessed in the office space sector,” the report said.


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