Real estate deals are on the increase in Bahrain, according to government figures.
The volume of property transactions surged by 46% last year, compared with 2011, worth around £1 billion.
Statistics from Bahrain’s Survey and Land Registration Bureau also reveal the number of transactions is picking up with year-on-year figures rising by 23% between 2011 and 2012.
Their figures on the values concerned show that in the fourth quarter, Bahrainis spent 57% more than the quarter of 2011. For Gulf Cooperation Council nationals it is 68% more and foreigners spent 54% more on property than they did previously.
News of Bahraini’s improving property sector comes as the government unveiled its plan to compile a register of state properties for people to rent.
Home values down 50%
The plan is to help those working in education, health and social sectors find good property at reasonable prices.
A specialist property company is currently putting the register of property together and working on how each government ministry can access it for their workers.
The government will introduce the policy and how the register will help those workers who need homes in the near future.
Meanwhile, it’s not all good news for the Bahraini property market with some sectors seeing values halve in less than two years, according to one study.
Ongoing protests from civil rights campaigners have led to just a handful of development projects starting since February 2011.
Buyers lack confidence
There are fears that the lack of demand and an oversupply of property will take years for the market to recover.
A report for Manama Municipal Council focussed on two of Bahrain’s biggest investment projects in its suburbs of Seef and Juffair, which had not seen any buyers despite the price of land halving in value to £165 per sq ft.
The report said: “Investors are not willing to begin their plans on the plots because they do not believe that they will get their money back in the future. Bahrain’s market is oversaturated and is not able to withstand an unnecessary influx.
“The market has shown recovery but there are millions at risk and investors cannot wait for the seven to 10 years it will take for them to make a profit.”
The report states that it will take Bahrain’s property market two years to recover fully because of low demand.
A spokesman for Parliament’s legal affairs committee said: “The fall in property values was sped up by the unrest unfortunately but it doesn’t mean that rates will remain at 50% forever.”
