Real estate activity saw a frenzy in the number and value of transactions during the month of June 2020. More specifically, the number of sale transactions skyrocketed by 106.62% in June to 8,339, with the value of transactions soaring by 49.44% to $1.68 billion. As a result, the average value per transaction dropped by 27.67% month-on-month to $201,180, from $278,151 a month earlier. On a cumulative basis, the number of real estate transactions rallied by 23.95% y-o-y to 27,216 transactions in the first half of 2020, while the value of transactions almost doubled to reach $5.40 billion. Consequently, the average value per transaction increased by 59.69% y-o-y from $124,163 at end of June 2019 to $198,276 at end of June 2020. The solid performance of the real estate sector owes to a rush by depositors to buy real estate in an attempt to liquidate part of their blocked savings in the banking sector amid the stringent withdrawal restrictions. It is worth noting that foreigners’ share of sale transactions fell to 1.57% at end of June of the current year, down from 1.97% at end of 2019.

From a geographical standpoint, the average value per real estate transaction in the Beirut region increased by 45.09% to $831,386 by June 2020, up from $573,014 at year-end 2019 with that in the Metn region rising by 26.93% to $257,925. Similarly, the average value per transaction in each of the Kesserwan and Baabda regions came in 31.44% and 34.44% higher at $178,535 and $169,909 respectively.