Real Estate Kuwait real estate transaction value up 34% in 2024 By Chris Hamill-Stewart January 8, 2025, 4:22 PM Alamy via Reuters Property in Kuwait City is more expensive than Cambridge or San Francisco Transactions worth $9b Residential deals dominate Kuwait City prices soar The value of real estate transactions in Kuwait grew 34 percent year on year in 2024. In total, 4,950 transactions were worth KD3.73 billion, or around $9 billion, in 2024, compared with 4,442 transactions worth KD2.78 billion in 2023. Only the country’s coastal strip saw a decline in transactions, with deals dropping 44 percent. Residential transactions made up KD1.5 billion of the total, with real estate contracts contributing KD1.2 billion of the total and commercial investments KD745 million. The country continues to be an attractive destination for foreign workers, pushing up real estate values. Expats currently make up around 73 percent of Kuwait’s 4.3 million population, meaning competition for the country’s limited housing stock is strong. Non-oil activity hits 9-month high in UAE Housing regulations amplify costs for Kuwait real estate $65m credit boost for Kuwait developer Mabanee In Kuwait the median apartment price to family income ratio stands at 7.5, while the same score for Saudi Arabia and the UAE hover around 3 and 4, respectively, according to Numbeo. The country’s capital, Kuwait City, has a ratio of 9.4 – making it more expensive relative to cities such as Luxembourg City, Cambridge and San Francisco. “Limited availability of land, higher demand, lack of supply and longer time to build infrastructure have led to the surge in housing prices,” MR Raghu, chief executive of Marmore Mena Intelligence, a research subsidiary of Kuwait Financial Center, told AGBI in November.
Aviation Riyadh Air delays launch after Boeing setbacks Riyadh Air has been forced to push back its launch date to the third quarter of 2025 after delays to deliveries from Boeing. The new Saudi airline had been scheduled to begin flying early this year. It is a blow to Saudi Arabia’s tourism ambitions to attract 150 million visits a year. Riyadh Air was founded […] 22 hours ago
Tech KKR signs a $5bn Gulf data centre deal in Dubai KKR, the American investment giant, and the data centre platform Gulf Data Hub (GDH), based in Dubai, have signed a strategic partnership to invest $5 billion in data centres serving the Gulf. A joint press release on Friday said that funds “affiliated with KKR” will also acquire a stake in GDH, although it did not […] 24 hours ago
Manufacturing China’s Geely opens Mena’s first car assembly plant in Egypt China’s Geely Auto has opened its first car assembly plant in the Middle East and North Africa near the Egyptian capital to produce 10,000 vehicles per year for the domestic market and up to 30,000 for export. Cairo-based Auto Mobility company (Geely Egypt), said it has invested around $100 million in the new car assembly […] 24 hours ago
Logistics Emirates increases capacity to meet rising cargo demand Dubai national carrier Emirates Airline has taken delivery of two additional aircraft to increase capacity and meet growing demand for its cargo service. The company has signed multi-year leasing deals for two Boeing 747 freighters, which have raised Emirates’ cargo capacity by 15 percent, the airline said in a statement. Emirates SkyCargo transported almost 1.2 […] 1 day ago
