Real estate activity down

Property sales drop by 19 percent in H1 2011

August 2, 2011- The number of property sales transactions reached 37,386 in the first half of 2011, dropping by 18.6 percent compared to the same period of 2010.

Figures released by the Directorate of Real Estate showed that sales transactions to foreigners saw a yearly drop of 32 percent over the first half of 2011.

The value of property sales during the first half of this year were down to $3.8 billion, an 18 percent decrease compared to the corresponding period of 2010.

The average value per property sale in the first half of 2011 reached $103,000, a slight rise of 0.4 percent from the same period of 2010.