Taking their time

ENAR

Two years ago, in a real estate special report, Executive quoted a source saying that by 2014 there would be an abundance of empty apartments on the market. Today, “there are unsold apartments,” says Massaad Fares, CEO of Prime Consult. Getting more personal, Fares says that “slightly more than half” of his company’s mixed-use Sama Beirut is sold. The tower near Sodeco Square is the city’s tallest building and is set to be delivered in 2015.  There are indications the real estate market may be picking back up. Cement deliveries in the first four months of 2014, according to the most recent data, are up 9 percent compared to the same period in 2013. Both the number of real estate transactions and the value of said transactions are also up, but Jihad Ibrahim, general manager of Jamil Ibrahim Establishment, tells Executive that these last two figures can be misleading. Slow