The end of the Gulf crisis is expected to further stimulate market activity in Qatar’s real estate sector, according to a Doha-based realtors group.
At the 41st GCC Summit held last week in Al-Ula city in Saudi Arabia, Gulf leaders signed a “solidarity and stability” agreement, thus putting an end to a more than three-year economic blockade on Qatar.
“The lifting of the blockade is indeed a welcome development for the business community, and the restoration of diplomatic ties between Qatar and its vital allies in the Gulf would no doubt lead to better economic development in the coming months,” Association of Filipino Realtors & Entrepreneur Executives in Qatar (Afreeq) chairman Joseph Rivera told Gulf Times Sunday.
Rivera clarified that while the “historic breakthrough in the Gulf crisis” is also expected to create a surge in market activity in Qatar’s real estate sector, its effects “are not immediate.”
“While real estate companies and industry stakeholders remain upbeat, any improvement in Qatar’s property market will not happen overnight and will take a considerable amount of time. The benefits of such positive developments following the GCC Summit will not immediately affect the real estate industry though it is inevitably forthcoming,” Rivera pointed out.
“The reopening of Qatar-Saudi borders and resumption of Doha-Riyadh flights are just the beginning of the process. The continuation of trade and commerce, as well as the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Qatar and the former siege nations offers optimism that things would all fall into place in a smooth and, hopefully, speedy manner,” he also said.
Rivera also stressed that quick solutions to curb the spread of Covid-19 and the global rollout of vaccines would help improve real estate market activity. “The pandemic remains a key factor in enhancing the property sector,” he emphasised.
He added: “Our industry colleagues in the West agree on our assessment though some of them feel that any improvement in the market soon may start from property sales first, followed by residential and commercial rentals. Some of our Arab counterparts even predict conservatively that any improvement in the market would most likely happen towards the end of the year.”
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