Real Estate

Property prices are on the up in Qatar, as are profits for listed real estate companies. Lending to the sector is also growing, with credit facilities worth $34.4bn at the end of 2014, the largest share of commercial banks’ loan book. The upward trajectory of residential rents is also gaining pace. After rising 7.9% y-o-y in August 2014, rents increased by 8.1% in September and 8.3% in October of that year. Meanwhile, Doha’s grade-A office stock, which totalled 2.5m sq metres in 2013, is set to increase when another 300,000 sq metres comes on-line in 2015. Demand is expected to hit 3.4m sq metres by 2019. Elsewhere, the size of the retail sector is expected to triple by 2016, with another 14 malls due to enter the market, bringing the total to 1.7m sq metres of shops.

This chapter contains interviews with Turki Mohamed Al Khater, Chairman and Managing Director, United Development Company; and Omar Hussein Alfardan, President and CEO, Alfardan Group.