Real estate developers are still focused on building smaller apartments, according to an annual report published by the Order of Engineers in Beirut. Apartments with an area of 150 square meters or less accounted for 52 percent of the overall number of apartments licensed in 2012, almost unchanged from the previous year. The number of apartments between 150 and 300 sqare meters also remained stable year-on-year, representing 35 percent of the total.

Ahmad Khatib, General Manager of brokerage firm Century 21 - First Global Real Estate, said: “We had anticipated this trend since more than two years ago and sincde then we have encouraged developers to build smaller apartments to answer the demand.” In 2010, small-sized apartments represented 44 percent of the overall number of catered apartments.

The report said that Mount Lebanon saw the highest supply in apartments under 150 square meters (7,958 units), followed by the South (1,279 units), Bekaa (979 units), Beirut (925 units), and Nabatieh (301 units). The figures mentioned in the report exclude units registered at the Order of Engineers in the North.

Khatib said: “Small sized units are currently stimulating the real estate market, after a period of slowdown in demand for larger apartments.”

The total area of properties registered during 2012 slipped by 11 percent to 14.6 million square meters.

The number of construction permits across the country increased by three percent since 2010 to reach around 18,200 in 2012. Around 80 percent of permits were dedicated to the construction of residential buildings, while only ten percent were for commercial developments. The rest of the permits were for agricultural and industrial facilities.

Khatib said the political change represented in the appointment of a new Cabinet is hoped to encourage the real estate market in terms of both supply and demand.