Kuwaiti real estate sales doubled to KD275.7 million ($978 million) in November, compared to the same period last year, while the residential and commercial sector continued to put up a strong show, said a report.

The strong results came from a solid performance by all three major segments after some slowdown in the past few months, said the report by National Bank of Kuwait (NBK).

The residential sector sales hit KD137.6 million in November, registering a year-on-year increase of KD50 million. This increase came from a larger number of transactions, despite having a slightly lower average transaction size compared to November 2011, the report stated.

The average (September – November) price for residential plots were seen at KD330/sq m, while the comparable price for residential homes recorded KD614/sq m. These prices are aggregated across different governorates,as well as different specifications, and therefore only serve as a general indicator, said the top Kuwait bank.

The investment sector netted KD70.2 million in sales during November, slightly down from the previous month, but registered a good year-on-year increase of about KD22 million.

This sector seems to be continuing its recovery from its seasonal slowdown and is likely to perform well in the near future, as healthy demand for the end-product (mainly apartments for rent) is sustained, the Kuwaiti lender said in its report.

In terms of pricing, the three-month average price for apartments was KD630/sq m for the October-November period, while whole buildings were priced at KD1,397/sq m. With regard to the plots of land allotted to the investment sector, the three-month price stood at KD944/sq m.

The sales in the commercial sector were uncharacteristically strong in November, totaling KD67.9 million. Although a huge portion of that amount came from a single transaction for a plot of land in Kuwait City (valued at KD53 million), the sector would still have been up year-on-year if that transaction were to be excluded, the top Kuwaiti bank stated.

The country's commercial sector could see some recovery if it gets exposed to a more active government real estate fund, the report added.

According to NBK, the Savings and Credit Bank (SCB) had disbursed KD9.2 million in loans, while approving an additional KD19.4 million spread over 343 applications.

Of the approved loans, 60 per cent were for new constructions; while the purchase of existing homes as well as additions and renovations made up to 25 and 15 per cent of total loan applications respectively.

Overall, the total amount of approved and disbursed loans saw different levels of increase year-on-year, pointing to robust demand in the residential sector.-TradeArabia News Service