Qatar’s future iconic destination
Qetaifan Island North features all elements to attract a warm and welcoming community that is seeking a vibrant lifestyle. Located off Lusail city, Qetaifan Island North spans approximately 1.3 million square metres, and the project area on the island extends to approximately 830 thousand square metres. Inspired by the rich culture and nature of the region, the island is uniquely designed with state-of-the-art features that include exciting entertainment attractions, waterpark, diversified waterfronts, distinct neighborhoods, private beaches, luxurious hotels, pedestrian-friendly streets, living gardens, saltwater canal with F&B and retail outlets on both sides, world-class accommodation, retail and festival plazas, school, and medical centre. Along with adrenaline-fueled water activities, visitors will also be able to enjoy fishing, boating and a whole range of other activities.

Qetaifan Island North’s main attraction is the state-of-the-art waterpark. Spanning over an area of approximately 160,000 square metres of the island, the waterpark features more than 10 attractions. Each attraction comprises two to three rides including an edutainment ride which has a unique design, inspired by the Qatari culture—complementing the oil and gas industry’s theme. That said, the Icon Tower which is a distinct zone in the waterpark is the world’s highest tower of its kind. It is 80 metres high and located on a small island Opposite to Qetaifan Island North and also linked to a causeway. The journey to the Icon Tower is by a specially designed train that passes through the causeway. The premier ride includes a 26-metre-tall rotating water slide, which is the first of its kind in the region. An elevator is also available for all floors within the tower.

Qetaifan Island North also features a Beach Club, that will be operated by Rixos International Hotels. The Beach Club comprises all the facilities of a 5-star hotel, with a gross floor area spread across 4,300 metres and the beach approximately 12,000 metres. The club is recognised as the waterfront attraction of the island, featuring a white sand beach, infinity pool, restaurant, cabanas, spa, gym and kids area. That said, the Linear Park forms a link between all zones on the island. An artificial Salt Canal stretching 1.2 kms is linked to the sea for visitors to enjoy fishing, boating and similar activities. Community facilities such as retail, F&B, sports and entertainment outlets are spread by the canal side.

For the residential community and FIFA fans
The island also caters to the residential community with first-class beach villas characterised by spectacular waterfront views, in addition to residential apartments and penthouses. Phase 1 and 2 of residential villa plots were sold out in 2020. They included waterfront villa plots, beach access villa plots and garden villa plots. The beach villa plots were launched in phase 2, marking the first in the Middle East, with access to an exclusive five-star operated beach. Qetaifan Projects will also be launching a new real estate development in early 2021 within the South Mid-rise buildings on the marina.

It is worth noting that some of the most exquisite suites for stay are in Qatar. Discover some of the most elegant hotel rooms in Qatar on Qetaifan Island North, 350 keys designed to offer guests absolute comfort and supreme luxury. Qetaifan Island North features a 5 star luxury resort to offer comfort to all visitors and tourists, in addition to the distinctive sea view and private beaches, chalets, rooms design. The Hotels will surround the Waterpark to ensure a unique experience for hotel guests. Guests will also have access to the retail plaza for a unique shopping experience during their stay. The gross floor area of the retail plaza is 8,000 meters and it will be operated by Rixos. Moreover, the hotel will also host events, leisure activities, services and facilities that will attract tourists.

More importantly, Qetaifan Island North will be an attractive destination for all during the Fifa World Cup 2022. It is close to Lusail city where the Lusail International Stadium is located for hosting the premier sporting event. The stadium will host the final game of the tournament on December 18th, 2022, which marks the National Day of the State of Qatar. Qetaifan Island North will also feature a temporary accommodation for the FIFA World Cup fans.

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According to consulting group ValuStrat, the Gulf nation is already witnessing a softening of its real estate market. Its Q2 2019 Real Estate Market review report states that there is a continuing correction of rents and capital values across residential, retail, and commercial verticals.

According to the report, the residential segment saw an overall 6.3 percent annual decline in capital values. This was, however, just 0.8 percent when compared quarterly. With regard to rentals, the segment saw a 5.6 percent decline year-on-year and a 1.5 percent decline when compared to the previous quarter. The commercial office space took a bigger hit with median rents declining 14 percent year-on-year and 4 percent on a quarterly basis. The best performing segment turned out to be retail. Amid competition from newer regional malls, asking rents in relatively older shopping centres had reduced by an estimated 5 percent when compared on a yearly basis.

Anum Hasan, Senior Market Research Analyst at ValuStrat Qatar, told International Finance that this softening is not new and has been going on since the first quarter of 2016, when oil prices started declining. While the prices of this natural resources, which is the primary contributor to Qatar’s GDP, has bounced back, the real estate rentals and capital values have not.

She said that this softening in the Qatar real estate sector was in part due to the Government’s financial consolidation programme that comes amid the FIFA World Cup preparations. Considering hosting the event provides a sense of pride for the host country, Qatar is said to be leaving no stone unturned to ensure presenting itself as a vibrant country to not only the fans who will be visiting the FIFA World Cup but to entire world which will have its eyes glued to it, during the event.

In this regard, Hasan said, the government of Qatar was allocating more of its capital spending towards projects related to this event. These included a metro with three lines, several stadiums, two new cities, namely, Msheireb Downtown Doha and Lusail, roads, and much more.   To offset these huge expenses and to improve operational efficiencies, Hasan said the government had reduced spending on the general real estate market including leasing of luxury villas and so on for their employees.

Meanwhile, Vaughn Weatherdon, Head of Real Estate Investment and Advisory at Qatar’s investment group QInvest, told International Finance that the current softening happened amid an oversupply of inventory and that the 2022 FIFA world cup was just one of the reasons for this. “Real Estate rent and price are both functions of supply and demand. In all sectors, there has been a significant increase in supply, in excess of demand growth. Supply is anticipated to continue growing in the near future. There are a number of reasons for this supply growth, including preparation for the FIFAWorld Cup 2022 and the longer-term development plans.”

He further added that the hosting the world cup was just one single event among many others that were responsible for driving development in the country. “We don’t expect the event itself to have a lasting impact on the market, other than the increased supply particularly in the hotel space required to accommodate the event. There should be elevated levels of occupancy and rate during 2022 but thereafter the Qatar real estate sector should revert to a more normalised level.”

When International Finance queried Weatherdon on when and how the situation could improve, he said the market could not be predicted but “a sustained increase in demand (particularly white-collar jobs growth) could signal a change in market direction.”

With regards to the future outlook, Hasan was quite positive. She said while there is a downtrend currently, the rate of decline in rentals had decelerated overall and even stabilised in a few locations.  She added that the downtrend could further stop and the rentals and unit prices could both stabilise and hit a plateau by mid or end of 2020. These, she added would continue to remain stable till the FIFA world cup 2022.

Hasan added that after the world cup, both rental prices and unit values of Qatar real estate could decline for a year or so. This she said was because many people and expats working on projects related to the world cup or the world cup itself, would leave the country once the event concludes, thereby leading to a decline in demand for both residences and commercial office units.  This, she added was a trend seen in both Russia and Brazil, the countries that had hosted the FIFA world cup in 2018 and 2014 respectively.

She was however quick to add that the medium-term outlook for Qatar real estate looked positive, indicating that Qatar could even be an exception or rebound back much quicker. This, she said was due to the supportive government Qatar had. She gave the example of the recent freehold property law passed by the country in the first quarter of this year.

Hasan explained that the freehold law for Qatar real estate would allow foreigners to come and own properties in the country, similar to Dubai. While this would take some time to become effective, it would allow opening the sector to foreign investors. This, it said would further make real estate in Qatar self-sufficient like in the developed nations,  further reducing the sector’s dependency on the government alone for financial injection.

Apart from this, Hasan said the government could further host new events of similar size after the world cup or even further inject money into the Qatar real estate sector after the event like it has been doing historically. Such possibilities, she concluded could further boost this sector going forward.

The post IF EXCLUSIVE – FIFA World Cup: What is its impact on Qatar real estate? appeared first on International Finance.

When asked for the reason behind the expansion, Philip White, president, and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty told Inman, “Qatar’s high-income economy and global real estate interest is appealing to the Sotheby’s International Realty brand.”

Seran Gheorghe, a real estate veteran with over 13 years of experience in the region will take up the role of general manager of the new Qatari brokerage. According to him, the Qatari market has high-end luxury properties which attract buyers from all around the globe.

“We pride ourselves in offering the highest level of support and advice to our clients before, during and after the transaction. Aligning our company with the Sotheby’s International Realty brand will further provide our clients with unparalleled marketing, global reach, and exposure,” the new general manager of Qatar Sotheby’s International Realty told Inman.

According to Sotheby’s International Realty, currently, 22,700 sales associates are working for the company at nearly 1,000 offices in 72 countries and territories. According to reports, the company generated a record $112 billion in sales last year.

Since the 2022 FIFA World Cup football tournament is scheduled to take place in Qatar and Sotheby’s decision to establish itself in the Middle East, especially Qatar, might be influenced by it.

The new branch launch also comes after Sotheby’s Canadian brokerage division was recently acquired by a subsidiary of Peerage Capital.

In February, Reuters reported that residential prices in Qatar are down about 10 per cent, office prices also saw a similar decline and rents are down 20 per cent since July 2017.

But with the World cup inching closer, experts predict long term projects to flood Qatar’s real estate market despite the decline in prices.

Also, according to Realty.com, Qatar recently passed a new law which permits greater foreign ownership of its real estate sector in a bid to draw more investment.

Founded in 1976, Sotheby’s International Realty is a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp, a global leader in real estate franchising, real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services.

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