Doha, Qatar: The country’s prime localities resulted in popular demand during the third quarter of the year. The Pearl, West Bay, Lusail, and other downtown residential areas witnessed a soaring rate among tenants who preferred renting apartments close to the business hub.

In a recent report, Hapondo, Qatar’s realty platform analysing the markets explained that “Convenience is a primary driver of living in apartments. Buyers want to either live nearer the city or rent their properties to tenants who want to be nearer places of work.”

However, the residents are merely not looking for top-notch locations, noted Hapondo and stated the stunning amenities, facilities, and services offered are also taken into consideration.

The latest date revealed by the platform highlights two significant rising trends in the country. Firstly, the rental market is dominated by furnished units. More than 3 in every 4 apartments listed on the website during Q3 of this year are furnished. In the meantime, 20 percent of these listings are semi-furnished.

Soaring numbers of listed apartments for rent come second and are owned and operated by hotels, offering services like cleaning, which are not implemented by typical rent units.

Among the key areas that are in popular demand, Lusail and The Pearl are tops for apartment buyers followed by West Bay. The researchers highlight that albeit both cities remain neck-to-neck in “search impressions”.

The listings by the real estate platform indicate that The Pearl surpasses Lusail with having the highest median price in the studio, 1, 2, and 3-bedroom apartment categories.

Lusail, however, has the most expensive 1 and 2-bedroom apartment options in terms of weighted average price per square meter in the country. The report also outlines intriguing projects, which have the most expensive 1 bedroom properties. While the WaterFront district within Lusail registers tops them at QR20,128 p sqm, the Qateifan Island leases at QR16,687 p sqm. Analysts expound that one of the main reasons is the average unit cuts from the two primary cities.

The quarterly property market report underscores that the apartment leasing market is dominated by 1 and 2-bedroom units, accounting for 37 percent and 39 percent of total listings.

In the two-bedroom apartments categories, The Pearl Qatar has the highest monthly median price at QR12,000, followed by Lusial Marina, Msheireb Downtown, West Bay, Fereej Bin Mahmoud, and Lusail Fox Hills.

In the one-bedroom apartments, West Bay tops the residential areas with the highest monthly median price followed by Lusail Marina, The Pearl and Downtown Al Ghanim, Al Mansoura, and Fereej Bin Mahmoud.

Three in every four apartments listed on the real estate platform’s website are furnished, and 14 percent are hotel apartments. Since these listings tend to be costlier and spread out unevenly across the areas, few places have more expensive one-bedroom median prices than the two-bedroom ones including West Bay, Najma, and Al Mansoura. “In some places such as West Bay, Al Sadd, and Doha Jadeed, the median price of 1BR is more expensive than a 2BR,” it said.

However, furnished apartments are likely to even costlier than other conditions and the volume of furnished options tends to create an impact on one-bedroom apartments like the hotels with long-stay options.

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