The surface area of construction permits in Lebanon, which reflects the level of future supply in the real estate sector, fell to 345,074 sqm during the month of January 2024, down from 405,321 sqm in December. On an annual basis, the surface area of construction permits came in 19.15% lower than the 426,784 sqm level reported in January of last year.

As far as the geographical distribution of construction permits is concerned, the Mount Lebanon region continued to control the lion’s share of the total surface area of issued permits (115,461 sqm <33.46%>), followed by the South (99,400 sqm <28.81%>), Bekaa (64,895 sqm <18.81%) and Nabatieh (49,205 sqm <14.26%>) regions. It is worth noting that figures for the North governorate are underestimated since they exclude permits issued by the North Order of Engineers.

The Bekaa region enjoyed the highest exploitation coefficient, which stood at 662 sqm per construction permit in January 2024, followed by the North (466 sqm/transaction), Mount Lebanon (439 sqm/transaction), South (412 sqm/transaction), Nabatieh (337 sqm/transaction), and Beirut (290 sqm/transaction) governorates.