Qatar's Surging Real Estate Prices Won't Affect Thriving Economy – Report

A rise in Qatar’s real estate prices is no reason for investors to panic as it is unlikely to shake the country’s economy, a Gulf Times report said.

Citing data from the Samba Financial Group, the report revealed that “strong market fundamentals” like population growth and project spending point to sustained economic growth.

The report said that Qatar real estate average prices have bounced by 129.4 percent in March following dismal growth in June 2009. It also noted that the prices “now stand 9% above its pre-recession peak.”

The local real estate exhibited signs of strong growth and recovery in 2013 with a price correction ending in a 20 percent increase in real estate prices. It still does not compare to the rate of increase then before the 2008 global financial crunch, the report noted.

Year-on-year growth meanwhile has evened out early this year, posting a 14.5 percent increase during the first quarter of 2014.

“But clearly the dangers of any emergent real estate bubble need to be carefully assessed,” Samba warned, as quoted by the report.

On Monday, the Gulf Times stated that Qatar’s real estate industry grew by 30.5 percent in June due mainly to a surge in real estate deals. Ezdan Holding Group data showed that 141 real estate deals worth QR1.310 were closed last month, according to the report.

Another market that is offering lucrative opportunities for investors is the United States’s real estate market.

International home buyers have in fact made significant purchases in the U.S. real estate market with transactions reaching $92.2 billion this year, the National Association of Realtor’s (NAR) 2014 Profile of International Home Buying Activity revealed.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the country’s real estate is a key driver in economic growth.

“An improving housing market is buoying consumers' spirits and giving the economy its biggest lift since the real-estate boom,” the report said.

It cited data from Macroeconomic Advisers which forecasted that the economy will grow at a yearly rate of 1.4 percent at the last quarter of the year. The housing sector, it said, is responsible for 0.4 percent of the economy’s growth.

One technology that could help realtors in luring foreign investors in to take part in the country’s lively real estate activities is RealBiz Media Group, Inc.’s RBIZ Nestbuilder Agent. Nestbuilder Agent, a disruptive video marketing platform accessible through Nestbuilder.com, is a platform where real estate agents can create professional and sophisticated virtual tours and videos of property listings to reach investors from other parts of the globe.

RealBiz Media is a publicly traded company based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Its stocks closed at $0.13 on Monday.