According to a report by the National Bank of Kuwait, issued by the Ministry of Justice, property sales in Kuwait have dropped in December last year, amounting to just half the number of sales made during the same month in 2007.
Real estate sales tumbled by 45.6% between 2007 and 2008, with a 17.5% drop between November and December last year, to a total of US$388mn.
In the residential property market, both sales volume and number of transactions fell by 42% and 41% respectively. Meanwhile, the apartments and commercial sector saw sales volume drop by 21.7%, the report said.
According to NBK, Savings and Credit Bank (SCB) approved housing loans also declined during December, with the number and value of approved loans falling by 14.4% and 23.5% respectively.
In 2008, the SCB approved a monthly average of 412 loans, 9% more than the 378 averaged in 2007. The value of loans approved increased modestly in 2008.
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