NBK reports surge in Kuwait’s Q2 2017 real estate sales

Kuwait's real estate market picked up momentum in Q2 2017 with May sales alone surging to their highest level in 18 months hitting $951m (KD289m), up 37% compared to the previous year, according to a report by the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK).

The residential and investment sectors provided significant support to Kuwait's real estate market, with sales increasing by 23% and 38% year-on-year (yoy), respectively in this period, stated the report.

Activity has been relatively volatile in recent months, with three of the last six months seeing increased sales, a development that could be signalling an end to the two-year slowdown. Real estate prices across most sectors continued to rise, currently up 9-10% yoy the report continued. According to NBK, the residential sector also bounced back in April with sales jumped to $456m (KD138m) during the month on 406 transactions. Sales improved by 23% yoy, supported by a 46% rise in the number of transactions from a year ago.

A surge in home purchases was witnessed during the last two months; 233 and 203 homes were sold in April and May respectively, the highest since March 2015.

Investment sector activity was strong in June 2017. Sales came in at $290m (KD87.7m), up 38% yoy. The number of transactions improved as well, advancing by 10% from the previous year. Investment building prices logged a slight gain in June 2017. The NBK investment building price index stood at 185.1 points, up 1.7% for the month, registering a five-month high.