In its latest economic brief on the monthly statistics of registered real estate contracts issued by the Ministry of Justice, excluding sales conducted through agents, National Bank of Kuwait reports that real estate sales rose sharply in July, registering one of the strongest months ever. The rise followed a drop in June which was in line with the usual seasonal slowdown during the summer months. A total of 854 units were sold in July at a value of KD 226 million, up 29 percent and 41 percent from June, respectively.
Units sold and the value of sales were up 52 percent and 72 percent compared to a year ago, respectively. NBK notes that most of the growth during July came from the residential sector, where sales rose by 43 percent in value and 32 percent in number. Still, sales of apartments and commercial property also showed notable increases in the value and number of sales by 37 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
During the first seven months of 2006, average real estate sales rose by 14 percent in value and 3.3 percent in number compared with the same period last year. Most of the growth in sales can be attributed to the rapid growth in sales of apartments and commercial property, which rose by 45 percent in value and 29 percent in units.
