Realtors see rents stabilising in city soon The seasonal lull in business and the balance between demand and supply has, apparently, put the brakes on the spiralling rents for apartments and villas in Doha, industry pundits said yesterday. The rental scene is moving towards stabilisation due to various factors, according to real estate experts. The freezing of rents in compliance to the Lease Law (No. 4 of 2008) that was introduced last year along with many companies preferring to buying and developing real estates for either lodging their own staff or business purposes, has contributed in tackling the soaring rentals. A real estate broker who preferred not to be identified said the two factors are effectively contributing in stabilisation house rents. "The balance between demand and supply of housing units achieved currently has not affected the prices substantially, but it is expected that downward movement of rents will be seen in the market sooner than later," the broker stated. Another real estate agent said that many high rise residential buildings are rapidly emerging on Doha's skyline and its outskirts. The prospect of competition among property owners and landlords for customers is likely to arrest the upward graph of rentals, if not cutback. The demand for housing units in Doha Centre is still high. The rental average is around QR 18,000 for a villa to QR 8,000 for an apartment. There will be status quo on this price for a while and then the downward movement will start. However, there are some localities like Al Dafna and Manassir where rents are still north bound. Yet, even in the current rental downturn, the price of land is increasing unreasonably, noted the real estate agent. Under the prevailing conditions, some landlords' tendency to evict tenants by whimpering a variety of excuses will no longer be practiced now, he added. The Pen

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