KUWAIT, June 27 (KUNA) -- The housing market in Kuwait carried out its marked activity and upward trend in the first quarter of 2011, acquiring 55 percent of total real estate transactions, according to a recent economic report released here Monday.
The investment property sector, involving housing buildings and apartments, came second in view of activity, making up 39 percent of total property deals recorded in the reporting period, showed the report, released Global Investment House (Global).
Investment property transactions shot up by roughly 49 percent in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010, with occupancy having remained high; ranging between 90-95 percent in most Kuwaiti areas, it said.
The value of housing and investment property deals hit KD 395.4 million and KD 281 million respectively in the reporting period, the report indicated. But, the commercial housing sector suffered high supply but low demand nationwide, with occupancy having constituted around 20 percent, something which shows that the sector was still affected by the global financial crisis.
In spite of lull in this sector, prices went up between 1.5-5 percent thanks to slight improvement in performance compared to the situation last year, but the number of transactions slipped by 66 percent, the report said.
Although the real estate sector actually became more active, its performance at the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) was the weakest, with listed property companies having come in the tail of the list in terms of profits by posting net profits of merely KD 480,000 against KD 25 million in the same period last year, it added.
This is due to some listed real estate companies' failure to clear their big debt burdens, the report pointed out.
Finally, the sector of malls boomed despite difficulty in finding required finance for construction by means of developing large areas for retail shops, mainly a KD-70-million-cost mall, it concluded. (end) smr.rf.mt KUNA 271324 Jun 11NNNN