Qatar higher land prices to push up rents

Qatar’s fast growing population rate continuing to push up land prices, the country is heading to higher rent inflation. Land prices have increased 52.7 per cent since the beginning of this year, leading to a 7.9 per cent increase in rent inflation in August 2014. The Ministry’s August data reveals that land plots continued to dominate real estate transactions during the last week of the month, representing 54.7 per cent of the total deals in August compared to 45.3 per cent of other transactions across the country. Doha Municipality saw a transaction of 923 sqm plot for a high QR30m during the first week of this month. The week also witnessed a top deal of 911 sqm plot for QR25m in Mamoura area. Rising rent inflation is leading to a moderate acceleration in domestic inflation. This is countered by lower international food prices, which are keeping foreign inflation down. ‘Overall, we expect rising rents to cause inflation to rise to 3.4 per cent in 2014 and 4 per cent in 2015-16,’ it said, according to thepeninsulaqatar.com