Real estate activity was sluggish during the fourth month of 2022 with the number of sale transactions dropping by 53.34% month-on-month to 4,547 and the value of transactions concurrently plummeting by 46.85% to $0.62 billion. The average value per transaction rose by 13.89% month-on-month to $135,859, from $119,288 a month earlier. On a cumulative basis, however, the number of real estate transactions increased by 42.99% y-o-y to 32,288 transactions in the first four months of 2022, with the value of transactions also rising by 26.23% to $4.48 billion. This yearly appreciation in realty figures can be explained by the strong appetite of realty owners to register their properties before the passing of the 2022 budget law which was advocating a hike in the US Dollar/LBP exchange rate on some specific transactions. It is worth noting that foreigners’ share of sale transactions fell to 0.96% YTD April 2022, down from 1.33% at end of 2021.

From a geographical standpoint, the average value per real estate transaction in the Beirut region fell by 10.65% in the first four months of 2022 to $437,879, down from $490,097 at year-end 2021 with that in the Kesserwan region concurrently declining by 2.83% to $153,026 and that in the Baabda region decreasing by 40.31% to $69,904. On the other hand, the average value per real estate transaction in the Metn region rose by 3.57% to $205,668.