War slows down Qatar’s property growth again

• Only 154 sales in March
• Rental market remains strong
• Concerns over job security

Qatar’s already-struggling property market remained stagnant in the first three months of the year as the US-Israeli war with Iran thwarted any hopes of growth. And without a thriving job market or rocketing population growth, the country’s real estate industry is likely to stay flat, according to analysts.

In March there were only 154 residential sales, down 11 percent compared with February, government data from the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, known as Aqarat, showed.

One-third of those were land sales, while just 20 apartments and 63 villas sold in the month.

In Doha, the capital, just one home was sold in March, a QAR5.8 million ($1.59 million) apartment on artificial island The Pearl.

“People need to feel secure in their jobs, or feel like they can find a job if they lose their current one. That plays into the property issues in Qatar,” said Richard Rayner, partner at real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Qatar.

Finance officials say population growth is at the core of housing demand in Qatar. February had the highest population on record at 3.4 million people, according to National Planning Council data. By the end of March, it had dropped by 30,000, suggesting the country did not undergo a mass exodus of expatriates.

“There is a perception that the population is less than you would need to create upward pressure on [real estate] pricing,” Qatar Financial Centre senior adviser Diego P Iribarren previously told AGBI.

Qatar, home to the al-Udaid airbase from where the US airforce directs operations across the Middle East, was hit by dozens of Iranian missiles and drones during the near six weeks of fighting, which ended with a tenuous ceasefire on April 8.

• Abu Dhabi reveals housing approvals for Emiratis
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• Aldar CFO says war impact has been ‘a bit exaggerated’

Developer Barwa, backed by Qatar Investment Authority, told investors last month that its rental business had remained strong off the back of people opting not to leave during the war.

“We didn’t experience any sudden drop in any of our properties. It’s not like what Dubai has experienced in terms of expats leaving suddenly and leaving their properties and terminating their rental contracts,” said CFO Tamer Elsayed.

On wider performance, Elsayed said: “There is usually a latency in the property sector to respond to an economic shock, a systemic shock of such magnitude. It’s still not. No one has an assurance or a clearance on how this crisis is going to impact the economy overall.”

For the first quarter of 2026, Qatar sold 675 residential units at around QAR435 ($119.50) per square foot. But the Qatari market has not seen the same sort of shocks as Dubai: compared with March last year, only around 20 fewer homes were sold in Qatar this March. The average sale price for the first three months of 2025 was QAR361 per square foot.

In comparison, Dubai rates were AED1,755 ($477.87) per square foot in Q1, government data collated by DXB Interact showed, while London last year averaged £7,200 ($9,810) per square foot according to HM Land Registry.