If you hear anyone cry wolf about demand in the Lebanese real estate market in 2013, rest assured that this is not the time to panic. The market is not exuberant, true, and demand is limited. But, overall, we are seeing a definite continuation of demand in the first quarter of 2013 from the end of 2012. The residential market in Beirut remains in a consolidation phase marked by capital appreciation. I consider this phase as a healthy pause between the rapid growth and price hikes that characterized the five years between 2005 and 2010, and a still unclear future. Many buyers have held off their purchasing decisions, pointing to the political and security environments on both local and regional levels to explain their indecision. Add to this the feeling that the economy is worsening, in the sense that growth has slowed while consumer prices have kept rising, and people
