As the 2022 Qatar Flag Cup approaches, preparations are made to cater to accommodations for the expected 1.2 million visitors by trying everything from cruise ships, desert camps, and regional shuttle trips to ensure places are available during the month-long tournament, while local owners had a more straightforward plan, raising rents.
According to Bloomberg, residents in popular neighborhoods are now forced to agree to pay rents that are 40% higher for contractual periods of two years. Faced with rents they can no longer afford, some residents say they have had to move away even years after the tournament ended.
Many hotels have also been forced to evict long-term residents and make way for teams and officials, leaving residents with few options in a country where the expatriate population represents 88% of the total population amid low homeownership rates.
This helped transform the property market after more than seven years of sluggish demand when entire buildings remained vacant as new residential, commercial, and hospitality supplies flooded the market.
Rents in the first quarter rose 3.3%, buoyed by a recent surge in demand, according to data compiled by ValuStrat, while average prices on The Pearl - an artificial island popular with white-collar expats - rose 19%. Housing was also the second largest contributor to the June inflation rate of 5.4% in Qatar, where costs rose faster than in any other Gulf country.
FIFA alone has booked thousands of hotel rooms and ancillary buildings for players, staff, and other officials. Local organizers also struck deals with property owners to allocate about 60,000 apartments to the masses.
Most one-bedroom apartments in The Pearl are being offered for rent for more than $1,000 per night during the tournament. These apartments are currently rented for an average of 9,500 riyals ($2,580) per month, according to ValuStrat, up from 8,000 riyals in the fourth quarter.
A Qatari government official said the country's rental property market "satisfies a range of preferences and budgets, and that as the" demand for accommodation increases during the World Cup, landlords and tenants are required by law to observe the terms and conditions of their rental agreement.
For his part, the CEO of Commercial Bank of Qatar, Joseph Abraham, said last month, "The recent rises in rents are transient and relatively temporary due to the World Cup and its associated effects." After the World Cup, he said, "the pressure from rents on the inflation index will go down as supply is outnumbered again."
Despite the recent rise, the Qatar Central Bank's real estate price index is 30% lower than in 2015.