Real estate activity was subdued in the first month of 2021 as a result of the government’s imposed strict lockdown which started on January 14. In details, the number of sale transactions dropped by 88.93% month-on-month to 1,482 in January and the value of transactions contracted by 89.48% to $0.22 billion. Consequently, the average value per transaction fell by 4.94% month-on-month to $150,338, from $158,155 a month earlier. On an annual basis, the number of real estate transactions plunged by 68.25% when benchmarked to the 4,668 level reported in January of the previous year, with the value of transactions dropping concurrently by 70.56% from $0.76 billion. It is worth noting that foreigners’ share of sale transactions fell to 1.21% at end of January 2021, down from 1.53% at end of 2020.

From a geographical standpoint, the average value per real estate transaction in the Beirut region increased by 67.99% to $962,618 in January 2021, up from $693,797 at year-end 2020 with that in the Metn region skyrocketing by 153.63% to $515,378. Similarly, the average value per transaction in each of the Kesserwan and Baabda regions came in 103.04% and 4.94% higher at $275,792 and $132,629 respectively.