BEIRUT: Lebanons real estate sector has proved to be a sound and lasting investment opportunity at a time when people started to lose their trust in commercial banks.

The total amount of real estate transactions reached $14.4 billion in 2020 and increased by 110.4 percent from $6.84 billion in 2019.

The statistics published by the Finance Ministry are the biggest proof of this trend.

According to 2020 figures, the number of real estate transactions went up by 63 percent compared to 2019.

Figures released by the Finance Ministry show that 82,202 real estate transactions took place in 2020, constituting an increase of 63.3 percent from 50,352 deals in 2019. In comparison, there were 60,714 real estate transactions in 2018 and 73,541 real estate deals in 2017, Byblos Bank report said.

The number of transactions reached 13,391 in December 2020, up from 6,038 in November and relative to 6,189 deals in December 2019.

The increase in real estate activity mainly reflects the continuous migration of some deposits out of the banking sector towards real estate, as reported by Lebanon This Week, the economic research publications of Byblos Bank Group.

Real estate developers and brokers all agree that many depositors have migrated their savings in the banks to more lasting investments and one of these investments are properties.

The private sector deposits shrunk by $19 billion in the first 11 months of 2020 and by $32.6 billion in the 15-month period at the end of November 2020.

Many depositors, who saw their dollar savings shrink considerably since October 2019, are now using the remainder of their money to buy properties.

According to Finance Ministry data, there were 16,169 real estate transactions in the Baabda area in 2020, representing 19.7 percent of the total.

The South followed with 10,966 deals (13.3 percent ), then the North with 10,509 transactions (12.8 percent ), the Metn district with 9,796 deals (11.9 percent ), the Keserouan region with 9,467 transactions (11.5 percent ), the Zahle area with 8,425 deals (10.2 percent ), the Nabatieh area with 7,699 transactions (9.4 percent ) and Beirut with 6,876 deals (8.4 percent).

In comparison, the amount of real estate deals dropped by 16 percent in 2019 and declined by 18.3 percent to $8.13 billion in 2018.

The amount of transactions stood at $2.1 billion in December 2020, compared to $969 million in November 2020 and $1.1 billion in December 2019.

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