Kuwaiti property news: Property sales plunge 38%

Country:  Kuwait

10 September 2009

The volume of Kuwaiti property sales dropped by 37.9% in the year to July, according to official data released today.

The figures showed that total property sales in the country plunged to 99.8m dinars (£209.4m) in July 2009 from 160.7m dinars (£276.6m) in same month last year.

Residential property sales have fallen drastically since the state restricted private firms from residential real estate deals last year. Official data shows that Kuwaiti property sales plunged 47% in Q2 2009 compared to the second quarter of 2008.

However, last month, Islamic lender Kuwait Finance House, said that it had paved the way for the company to finance private real estate investment in Kuwait, after winning a verdict against the ministry of justice.

The research also shows that investment property sales in July fell 28.1% to 39.6m dinars (£82m), while commercial property (apartment buildings for leasing) sales were down 70.9% to 5.1m dinars (£10.7m) in July, compared to the same month in 2008.

See Also:   Kuwait, Marc Da-Silva