KIB delivers international-standard feasibility studies to guide real estate investment decisions

Amid the rapid transformations in Kuwait’s real estate market, Kuwait International Bank’s (KIB) Real Estate Advisory Department continues to play a pivotal role in delivering comprehensive feasibility studies that align with international standards, enhancing investor confidence and supporting sound investment decisions.

The Real Estate Advisory Department at KIB is recognized as one of Kuwait’s leading providers of economic feasibility studies for real estate projects. Through its services, the department equips customers with precise, comprehensive analytical tools that enable well-informed investment decisions, helping them achieve their financial goals while mitigating real estate investment risks.

Backed by more than fifty years of experience, KIB delivers real estate feasibility studies that adhere to international benchmarks, including the standards of the International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Global Valuation Standards. These benchmarks ensure that all studies conducted by the Bank are accurate, reliable, and transparent, reinforcing customers’ trust in the data and recommendations provided.

KIB’s services encompass market analysis and the assessment of economic and social factors influencing all types of real estate projects, including residential, investment, commercial, and industrial developments. They also extend to educational facilities such as schools and universities, as well as medical properties including private clinics and hospitals. Each feasibility study is grounded in evaluating the balance between supply and demand, forecasting expected rental levels, and analyzing both direct and indirect costs of proposed projects. This methodology provides customers with a clear, transparent, and accurate picture of anticipated costs and revenues, enabling them to fully understand the financial viability of their investments.

Fahad Adel Alsaleh, Senior Manager of Real Estate Advisory and Digital Solutions at KIB's Real Estate Department, said: “The Bank’s Advisory Department brings together a team of experts in engineering and real estate consulting with extensive experience and deep knowledge of Kuwait’s property market, ensuring the delivery of tailored solutions that align with local market demands. We recognize that every real estate project is unique; therefore, we rely on three core pillars that combine science, art, and expertise. Feasibility studies and project evaluations are based on scientific methods that enable us to determine a fair value for a property or a comprehensive vision for a future development project.”

Al-Saleh highlighted that the department also works to raise awareness across both the public and private sectors about the importance of economic feasibility studies in reducing market risks and increasing the chances of project success. He emphasized that reliance on accurate and reliable real estate data is a core requirement of international standards. In this regard, the Bank has recently developed the largest digital real estate database in Kuwait, encompassing essential data from its establishment in 1976 through to the present day. This database now serves as a strategic resource for feasibility studies, as well as for informed financing and investment decisions.

Al-Saleh pointed to the wide range of additional services provided by KIB’s Real Estate Advisory Department, including monitoring projects under construction to ensure investor compliance with building permits and the proper use of construction materials. The Department also reviews construction projects for the Corporate Finance Division, conducts site inspections to approve letters of guarantee for contractors, and verifies adherence to project timelines. KIB further sets itself apart with the introduction of a pioneering real estate classification mechanism—the first of its kind in Kuwait’s banking sector—designed to mitigate financing and investment risks.