In its latest economic brief on the monthly statistics of registered contracts issued by the Ministry of Justice, National Bank of Kuwait reports that real estate sales activity rose in January to its highest level in eight months. A total of 555 sales transactions was registered at a value of KD 139.6 million. Value and unit sales were up by 47% and 19% from December, respectively. Value wise, they were ahead of the average monthly figure during 2004, though in unit terms they were down more than 6%.
NBK notes that, while growth was higher for the apartment and commercial sector with the value of sales rising by 53% and unit sales up 32% from December, there was also a marked increase in sales of residential property. The latter showed the highest unit sales over the past nine months, and the highest sales value over the past six months. Compared with the previous month, units sold rose by 44% and sales value by 17%.
Average price per unit sold increased by 16% for apartments and commercial properties, and by 23% for residential properties, compared with December levels.
Loans approved by the Savings and Credit Bank (SCB) saw strong growth for the second month in a row, with value and number rising by 9% and 7% from the previous month, respectively. SCB approved 415 loans in January, compared to a monthly average of 403 in 2004 and 462 in 2003. Loans approved for the construction of new homes increased by 17% both in value and number, while loans disbursed declined by 7%, compared to December.
