Rents in Doha Are Expected to Stay High This Year

The surge in demand for residential property in Qatar during the first quarter of the year reflects the country's increased demand for residential property ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in November. In its latest Real Estate Market Review Qatar Q1 2022, global real estate advisory firm Cushman and Wakefield predicted that when availability declines more towards the end of the year, residential rents will continue to rise.

The Supreme Committee and Legacy have reserved housing for tournament spectators, which has contributed to the increase in residential property demand. In the run-up to the tournament, there has also been high demand from corporate groups wanting to secure much-needed employee housing.

According to the report, the impact of rising demand on rental levels has been particularly noticeable in premier apartments, where new lease rental levels have climbed by 10% to 15% in the last year.

"Rental growth have also been seen in villa communities, though not to the same extent, as most communities have had strong occupancy for the past two years. Rents in certain Doha compounds have risen by 2% to 5% as a result of recent renewals and new lettings, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Since 2015, Qatar's residential supply has expanded by 5.2 percent per year.

According to the research, monthly asking rates for empty apartments in The Pearl-Qatar presently range from QR9,000 to QR10,000 for a one-bedroom unit to QR16,000 to QR19,000 for a three-bedroom unit. Apartments in older buildings in neighborhoods such as Bin Mahmoud can be leased for around QR5,500 for a one-bedroom apartment and QR8,500 for a three-bedroom apartment closer to the city center. While conventional three-bedroom compound villas rent for between QR14,000 and QR16,000 per month, larger four- and five-bedroom villas rent for between QR17,000 and QR21,000 per month.

According to Cushman and Wakefield, the number of flats in Q1 2022 has surpassed 230,000, and the number of villas has ranged in 130,000 each month.

As major new residential projects are completed in 2022, this supply will expand dramatically. Ezdan has claimed that 4,000 units will be supplied in time for the World Cup, while 6,800 units at Barwa's Madinatna in Al Wukair will be used to house World Cup visitors before being distributed to the general public in 2023.

According to the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA), the number of residential sales transactions declined by 22% in January and February compared to the same months last year.

This came after a 30 percent drop year over year in December, showing that the pace of residential property sales has slowed following a period of robust growth in 2020 and 2021, according to Cushman & Wakefield's quarterly report.