DOHA (Reuters) – Qatar is facing a huge housing oversupply during the World Cup. Over the weekend, searches on the official portal found at least 42 hotels with vacancies and Airbnb also showed hundreds of available listings.
Ahead of the tournament, everyone from Qatari government officials to Qatar Airways leaders and supporter groups all sounded the alarm that there would be a housing shortage, and the organizers secured additional housing developments, cruise ships and even desert campsites. the reality turned out to be quite different.
Doha rental homeowners were excited by the prospect of 1.2 million spectators in Qatar over the course of the World Cup, hoping to make a substantial profit. The impact will spread throughout the Qatari real estate market, several real estate brokers say.
Property brokers, accommodation operators and tenants interviewed by Reuters said some rental property owners had charged exorbitant rental rates ahead of the Games, resulting in a large amount of vacancies.
Many viewers avoid the more expensive accommodation in Doha and opt to fly to Qatar with up to 500 daily flights from nearby cities such as Dubai. A Qatar Airways chief said these passenger flights were also set up to address a shortage of accommodation.
Influenced by such trends, a real estate agent said a room (two bedrooms) in a Doha apartment complex, which priced at $1,200 a night in early October, dropped to $250 a week earlier of the start of the tournament. had come down to
The extra cost is a testament to how bullish the local hotel and rental property owners were.
A group of tourists from Italy, who arrived from Italy a week before the start of the tournament, got stuck in trouble between the hotel they were planning to stay and the paid travel agency. Kuhaya Global, the agency, told Reuters that seven hotels with exclusive contracts will pay a total of more than $10 million upfront, then pay the hotels a total of at least $550,000 two weeks before the start of the Games. requested by
Volkhard Bauer, who manages Kuhaya, who has made large bookings for accommodation to sell to fans in various countries and sponsors of the International Football Association (FIFA) in the last three World Cups, said: “This is the situation at the World Cup. I have never heard of talk,” he said indignantly.
Bauer said the exhausted group was finally able to enter the room after Kuhaya transferred the amount he was told.
Other hotels have more than doubled the price of an extra bed agreed in advance with guests.
Users of rental accommodation in Qatar have also been stunned by the anticipated price hikes. A report released Sept. 30 by real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield said rents on long-term leases rose more than 30% in the third quarter, with some homeowners paying current rates if they choose. sign a two-year contract.
Interviews with renters of apartments in Doha suggest landlords refused to renew their annual contracts months before the Games and raised rents.
A 30-year-old Tunisian woman who lived in an upscale residential area on the artificial island ‘The Pearl’ said her contract expired in October and was told by the owner that it would not be renewed until after the World Cup.
In addition, the owner has made it a condition to leave the furniture when she moves out temporarily before the renovation, so that the room can be used immediately for World Cup guests.
The woman said: “Basically, I had no choice but to comply” and is worried she might be forced to sign an expensive long-term contract in the future.
(Journalist Andrew Mills)
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