How much rent do you pay for your humble abode here in the Middle East? Think it’s too pricey? Wondering what you could get for the same amount of money elsewhere in the region?
For a long time chat about rent in the region has been equivalent to weather chat in the West – a good conversation opener and a daily necessity! But talk of rent is hotter now than it’s ever been. How much one pays often defines how bearable the cost of living in Arab countries is for expats.
Many people who could once afford the bright, spacious and airy places that the Middle East offers, have had to make do with more humble residences. Property developers are economising too on money and on space, by drawing smaller rooms and less bathrooms in their blueprints.
Live in Dubai? Well, despite rent rates finally starting to flatline in the cosmopolitan city towards the end of 2014, the year as a whole showed a gloomy picture of rising rents. In oil-rich Kuwait many migrant workers struggle to make ends meet because a huge chunk of their salary goes straight towards the rent bill. Many expats have started to wonder whether it’s worth sticking around at all!
In Lebanon, the topic of housing has become more prominent given the sharp influx of refugees from neighboring countries. Syrian refugees alone now account for 20% of Lebanon’s population. Added to that the thousands of Iraqi and Palestinian refugees and pressure on the property market is bubbling.
It’s a similar picture in nearby Jordan, where 10% of the population consists of Syrian refugees. Then there’s the large transient population of expats and students – those who call Jordan home for just a few years and are willing to pay a few hundred dollars in one of hipster or upmarket neighborhoods if Amman. Of course, this is a chunky sum for the average Ammani worker!
So just do how the region’s countries fare when it comes to rent prices? Al Bawaba shopped around the Middle East’s cities to see what cash could land you in a two bedroom apartment. This unscientific survey may hold a few surprises...
