While the current slump in the domestic real estate market is largely seen as temporary rather than structural, some astute real estate players are turning to international markets for revenues. Intermediaries have been advertising home buying opportunities in Cyprus or jumping into promotion of properties in Spain to well-heeled clientele. Now, developers with a bent for regional activities have a new iron in the fire that looks ever hotter as local demand is cooling; Erbil, the capital city of Iraqi Kurdistan and the latest boomtown of the Middle East. Geographic diversification has long been a natural path for Lebanese real estate players seeking to mitigate domestic risks or expand beyond the confines of a small territory. In 2013, this became extra relevant as business potentials in southern European property sales and Kurdish developments expanded while local demand kept contracting. Recent examples are Lebanese intermediaries Plus Properties, with a Cypriot
