According to Cluttons, Bahrain's office market remained stable in the first quarter of 2015, with rents in Al Seef ranging from BD 5-5.5 per square meter, while there was little change elsewhere. real estate agents in qatar
Overall, the Diplomatic Area and the Financial Harbour area saw rent decreases of nearly 6% last year, but they have since stabilized, with no more decreases so far this year. However, as overall morale is harmed by the government's declining hydrocarbon revenues, oil price weakness will most likely flow through to the office market.
Take-up operation is still limited to requirements under 250 square meters, but developers, buoyed by last year's strong business sentiment, are eager to move forward with schemes with wide floor plates. In the medium term, this, combined with the downside risks of low oil prices, is expected to stifle any strong return to rental value growth.
Clutton predicts that office rents will begin to muddle along in the near term, with downward corrections possibly later this year and into 2016, if oil prices remain below USD 50 per barrel.
Furthermore, if the USD 10 billion GCC Support Fund for Bahrain decided in 2011 is renegotiated as the region's governments struggle with declining hydrocarbon revenues, a downturn in infrastructure project investment is a very real possibility.
Overall take-up activity, job development levels, and, as a result, residential market demand are all likely to be affected. It's far too early to determine the likelihood of such a situation occurring; for the time being, it's a possibility we're keeping an eye on.
The retail industry is still booming.
The retail sector, on the other hand, has remained resilient and is still growing in the commercial landscape.
A stronger US Dollar, against which the Bahraini Dinar holds a fixed peg, is the silver lining in an otherwise economically crippling tale of oil price weakness. A stronger dollar means lower import prices, which will trickle down to consumers in the form of higher disposable income, implying a positive short-to-medium-term outlook for the retail sector.
The rate of take-up of retail units across the Kingdom reflects this optimistic and evolving scenario. For example, 60 percent of the 750 retail units at Dragon City on Diyar Al Muharraq have been pre-let, with completion expected later this summer as retailers compete for space.
International retailers are also mobilizing to put themselves at the forefront of the market's dynamism, with Carlo's Bakery of New Jersey being among the first in a new wave of brands to join the Gulf. Carlo's Bakery is set to open its first Middle Eastern location at The Courtyard in the near future.