Real estate activity saw a drop in the number and value of transactions during the eighth month of the current year as a result of the Beirut Port explosion on August 4 which caused devastating destruction in the area. More specifically, the number of sale transactions fell by 28.43% in August to 7,438, with the value of transactions plunging by 32.53% to $1.21 billion. As a result, the average value per transaction dropped by 5.72% month-on-month to $162,107, from $171,950 a month earlier. However on a cumulative basis, the number of real estate transactions soared by 44.70% y-o-y to 45,047 transactions in the first eight months of 2020, while the value of transactions more than doubled to reach $8.39 billion. Consequently, the average value per transaction increased by 47.24% y-o-y from $126,478 at end of August 2019 to $186,230 at end of August 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 foreign currency withdrawal restrictions. It is worth noting that foreigners’ share of sale transactions fell to 1.38% at end of August 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 37.24% to $786,414 by August 2020, up from $573,014 at year-end 2019 with that in the Metn region rising by 25.45% to $254,928. Similarly, the average value per transaction in each of the Kesserwan and Baabda regions came in 30.18% and 33.74% higher at $176,825 and $169,020 respectively.