Qatar house price is far inferior to Hangzhou? 120㎡ sea view room, only 4 million.
In a blink of an eye, I have been in Qatar for a month. Many fans of “I love to ask Jiajun when buying a house” are very interested in the housing prices in Qatar and ask questions in the background. To be honest, I am also very curious, as one of the richest countries in the world, how expensive is the house in Qatar? So, taking advantage of my free time, I also visited intermediary stores in Qatar.
The area of Qatar is almost only 2/3 of the size of Hangzhou (Qatar covers an area of 11,500 square kilometers and Hangzhou covers an area of 16,850 square kilometers). It is one of the richest countries in the world. The per capita annual income of locals in Qatar is US$146,000, equivalent to RMB 1.04 million, ranking among the top in the world.
The apartment I rent is located on Pearl Island, which is a man-made island composed of large luxury residential areas, world-renowned hotel groups and luxurious commercial spaces. The location of Pearl Island is almost the location of Jianghehui in Qianjiang New Town in Hangzhou.
In a real estate agency store on Pearl Island, I was greeted by a Filipino brother. He recommended a house to me, one bedroom and one living room, 120㎡. I asked him if 120㎡ has been made into 3 bedrooms, and he thought I was joking, “How can I live in such a house?”
This 120-square-meter house is located near the Pearl Harbor Pier, with a luxurious clubhouse, a children’s play area, a school district, and the sea outside the window. There are all kinds of soft furnishings, and you can move in with your bags, and these are all included in the price.
Qatar housing prices
The price of this house is 2.05 million Qatari riyals, equivalent to less than 4 million yuan, equivalent to a unit price of about 33,000 yuan, which is almost the price of a new house in Gouzhuang, Hangzhou. As a similar lot, the price limit of new houses in Hangzhou Jianghehui plate is nearly 70,000 yuan/㎡.
Immediately afterwards, the intermediary broker introduced to me a set of townhouse products, with an area of 311 square meters, 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, and 2 parking spaces. The price of this house is 4.2 million Qatari riyals, about 8 million yuan, which is almost the price of an improved house in the center of Hangzhou. Its unit price is only 26,000 yuan, including soft furnishings, which is even lower than the price of Hangzhou Pingyao.
I asked the agent, why is this townhouse cheaper than an apartment? He said that there is a gap in the quality of the two communities, and the view of the townhouse is worse than the sea view of the apartment.
The intermediary said that most of the buyers of these houses are foreigners, because Pearl Island, West Bay, Lusail New Town and other places allow foreign residents to hold properties permanently. How expensive is the house where local tyrants live in Qatar? “That’s very expensive, there is no specific figure.” The intermediary said with a smile.
Compared with Hangzhou, the rental income of Qatar houses is higher. For that 120-square-meter sea-view apartment, the monthly rent of similar houses is basically more than 10,000 riyals, which is equivalent to about 20,000 yuan per month, and the annualized income is 6%. The intermediary said that the rent-to-sale ratio of local houses is above 5%.
The intermediary said that the housing prices in Qatar have risen a round this year. Statistics show that housing prices in Doha, the capital of Qatar, have risen by an astonishing 46.1% in half a year.
“The World Cup is coming to an end. If I buy it now, will I be stuck?” I asked the agent.
He shook his head with a smile and said, “The housing prices in Qatar still have great potential. Next year we will host the Asian Cup, the Asian Games, and the Olympic Games. This will become an important city in the world.”
Holding grand events, improving infrastructure facilities, and rising housing prices, no city in the world seems to be an exception.