Kuwait real estate ... residential sector remained sluggish in February.
Kuwait's real estate sales down for third month
KUWAIT, March 31, 2015
The sales in Kuwait’s real estate market plunged for the third consecutive month in February to KD221 million ($734 million), down 17 per cent year-on-year (y/y) compared to the same month last year, said a report.
The short nature of the month and the coinciding National and Liberation Day holidays pushed the number of transactions further down to a two-year low, stated the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) in its report.
The residential and investment sectors remained sluggish for the month while the commercial sector trailed further behind in terms of sales value and number of transactions, it stated.
The February sales in the residential sector totalled KD107 million ($356 million), down 22 per cent y/y, said the country's top bank.
A total of 313 residential transactions were recorded during the month, the lowest since February 2011. Activity was once again heaviest in the Ahmadi governorate, which accounted for 38 per cent of all residential transactions for the month.
The average transaction size in February was KD341,000 ($1.13 million), down 14 per cent year-on-year (y/y), the report stated.
Sales in the investment sector totalled KD88 million ( $292 million) in February, registering a drop of 26 per cent y/y. Sales are the lowest since October 2013 with the sector recording its fourth consecutive negative y/y performance.
The sector has been going through a slight correction of late, with investors more cautious because of higher prices and rich valuations according to anecdotal evidence, said the NBK in its report.
In terms of the number of transactions, 65 were recorded during the month, the lowest since September 2009.
The average transaction size was KD1.37 million ($4.55 million), supported by a single transaction worth KD21 million ($69.7 million) for a hotel in Salmiya.-TradeArabia News Service