Qatar’s housing drought eases

After years of acute housing shortage, the supply-demand gap is narrowing in Qatar, said the property consultant Landmark Advisory in a survey.

“The situation is already reversing,” said Jesse Downs, the director of research and advisory services. “The assumption was that Qatar’s booming economy, based on petroleum exports, had attracted large inflows of expatriate professionals. However, this assumption does not bear close scrutiny.”

According to the Landmark’s Qatar Real Estate Report for the second quarter, Qatar’s petroleum industry employs only 5 per cent of all expatriates, but accounts for roughly 70 per cent of GDP. “Since a large portion of construction workers live in labour compounds, they do not contribute to demand for individual housing units. So, it is misleading to assume that Qatar’s recent population growth is matched by a comparable increase in residential demand.”