Lebanon Strong Real Estate Activity

The real estate sector in Lebanon has witnessed strong activity after the October 17 revolution in 2019 and after 3 years of stagnation. Apartments and lands were perceived as a safe-haven investment specifically by buyers fearing a haircut on their bank deposits reinforced by imposed informal capital controls. Most of these transactions have been executed by issuing banker’s checks starting from December 2019 till December 2020. However the marked depreciation of the value of local dollars (US dollars stuck in the banking system) in tandem with the local currency depreciation rose the prices on one hand and lead to a shift in payments to cash or fresh funds on another hand.

Consequently, real estate demand fell across all income brackets in the 4^th quarter of 2020. In the medium term, the prices are not likely to drop only when it comes to houses sold in return of banker’s checks since owners who seek to sell their houses in return for cash tend to offer a discount. Overall, the shape of real estate in Lebanon depends on reforms and economic solutions: should reforms be put in place, the real estate market would become more stable and result in investments in development projects.