Towering profits

  A remarkable 2010 witnessed the wholesale destruction of records in the real estate sector. Soaring tower heights were matched by booming construction activity, high-profile conventions, more sales than ever (and of higher values) and the launching of unprecedented mega-developments. With foreign investment steadily increasing and excess liquidity at local banks, the property sector enjoyed a healthy stock of both cash and confidence.         Lending for new homeowners has never been more varied, as banks competed this year to offer housing loans across the market with rates tailored to various requirements. Some lending facilities allow residents to borrow 80 percent of a home’s value and have raised the maximum value of loans in parallel with the climbing real estate prices seen across the country, though especially in central Beirut. As the supply of free plots runs thin and the cost of land climbs ever higher, experts agree that prices, though