Apartment prices in Beirut in 2021: How much is an apartment in Achrafieh?

This is part I of a three-part series on property prices in Beirut. The next part will focus on Ras Beirut, while part III will focus on Downtown.

The real estate market in Beirut has changed greatly since the onset of the financial crisis that has gripped Lebanon for two years. In collaboration with Ramco Real Estate Advisers, L’Orient-Le Jour is looking at the different trends, neighborhood by neighborhood, starting with Achrafieh, where the most recent transactions affirm that prices, which are now calculated in fresh dollars, plunged 50 percent compared with 2019 in a market on the decline.

Furn al-Hayek, a beautiful neighborhood in Achrafieh, offers a pleasurable and enviable urban setting with a handful of old boutique buildings, a few gardens and high-end towers. But the [residential] properties put up for sale are not many. One recently concluded sale was a 470 square meter luxury apartment with a terrace, located a few meters away from ABC mall. It was sold for $1.1 million,* or $1,850 per square meter. This price is much lower than the currently typical asking price — for luxury apartments the square meter price often exceeds $3,000. For instance, there are two apartments of 230 and 380 square meters respectively in beautiful buildings, offered at $850,000 and $1.5 million respectively. Their prices are more or less the same as in late 2019.

“Owners are only willing to sell in fresh dollars. But they need to know that the prices have fallen by 40 to 50 percent on average, which means that an apartment that was worth $1 million in 2019 is now worth from $500,000 to $600,000,” Joe Maatouk, CEO of JM Properties, says.

“Yet the fact that the lira gained value against the US dollar since the formation of Najib Mikati’s cabinet will positively affect the prices. But that’s not going to revive the market in the short run. The market will recover when the Lebanese lira becomes stable against the US dollar,” the real estate agent adds.

“The market will continue to be sluggish. Those who paid with banker checks already made the purchases, and those who have fresh dollars are not many. Things will remain unchanged until Christmas,” says Walid Moussa, president of the Real Estate Syndicate of Lebanon (REAL).

In the neighborhood of Tabaris, a 245 square meter apartment on the first floor with renovation works to be scheduled, is offered at $700,000 (or $2,857 per square meter). This apartment was put on sale at 800,000 lollars (dollars stuck in Lebanese banks and paid out the local currency at a rate of LL3,900) blocked in late 2018. A few meters away, a 265 square meter apartment on the 6th floor is advertised at a rate of $2,830 per square meter.

On Trabaud Street, an owner is asking for $1 million for an area of 310 square meters in an elegant building completed in 2017. The price goes up to $1.6 million for a quality apartment of 440-square-meter on Abdel Wahab al-Inglizi Street.

A 490-square-meter apartment near the Sofil Center is looking for a buyer at $2,632 per square meter. On the same street, a 380 square meter property that needs to be restored due to the Beirut port explosion was sold at a rate of $1,840 per square meter.

“Along Sursock Street, a 400 square meter apartment in a 30-year-old building is listed for $2,500 per square meter. In my eyes, it is still a bit high to attract a buyer. Buyers would rather wait. We are still in a situation where no one knows which turn the country is going to take,” Tony Abou Rizk, a real estate agent based in Achrafieh, says. “Indeed, prices in Sursock should range from $2,200 to $2,500 per square meter,” Maatouk says.