Real estate activity was sluggish during the ninth month of 2022 with the number of sale transactions dropping by 7.17% month-on-month to 7,767 and the value of transactions concurrently decreasing by 15.39% to $1.54 billion. The average value per transaction contracted by 8.85% month-on-month to $197,689, from $216,888 a month earlier. Similarly on a cumulative basis, the number of real estate transactions decreased by 21.07% y-o-y to 56,500 transactions in the first nine of 2022, with the value of transactions dropping by 13.02% to $9.17 billion. It is worth noting that foreigners’ share of sale transactions extended its downturn, reaching 1.03% in September compared to 1.33% at end of 2021.

From a geographical standpoint, the average value per real estate transaction in the Beirut region rose by 18.80% in the first nine months of 2022 to $582,229, up from $490,097 at year-end 2021 with that in the Metn region concurrently increasing by 3.43% to $205,386. On the other hand, the average value per real estate transaction in the Kesserwan region fell by 5.29% to $149,140 and that in the Baabda region slowing by 5.47% to $110,696.