It is expected that the Syrian government will encourage the local and Arab private sector to invest more in the local real estate market during the next period. Sources revealed that there are negotiations with Arab and Gulf real estate companies regarding their entry to the market of organizing the unplanned housing sector in Damascus, reported the Qatari newspaper, Al-Watan (April 17, 2005). Saudi real estate company Aqar has already expressed its willingness to invest in a project to organize the unplanned housing, in addition to other Qatari investors and companies, which expressed their will in investing in real estate projects in Damascus.
Is should be mentioned that prices of real estates and lands designated for construction in Syria faced huge increases during the recent period, which reached in several cities to 40%-50% hike, causing to an unstable situation
in the real estate market.
The reasons for the increase in real estate's prices are the rise of the construction materials' prices, especially iron, which rose from 17,000 to 40,000 Syrian Pounds ($327-$769) per tone. In addition, many Syrians drew part of their deposits from the Lebanese banks (estimated totally in $10 billion) and flowed part of it into the local real estate market.
