BEIRUT: Real estate companies expressed their optimism on Wednesday about the projected performance of the sector in Lebanon for the year 2010.

“We are expecting a 150 percent increase in the sales volume of our projects in Lebanon this year especially that the tourism minister previously announced that the country will witness the best tourism season ever during this summer,” said the chief marketing officer of Noor International Holding, Sobhi Agha.

Noor International Holding is one of the pioneer companies having its modern and creative concepts in the field of real estate development and marketing worldwide.

“The real estate sector in Lebanon is booming and the governmental support is giving it the push it needs. Banks are also creating special packages to meet this expansion and we are expecting lots of visitors from the Gulf region during this summer which will have a great impact on properties demand,” he said.

He added that prices have been stable for the past two weeks but could rise if demand increases. “A lot of real estate companies will seize the opportunity and come to invest in Lebanon,” he said.

Ray White International, Australia’s largest Real Estate group for residential commercial or rural properties, has been operating in Lebanon for only four months but was also among the exhibitors.

Ray White’s regional director, Haytham Jreij, said that he expects 10 to 15 percent growth in the real estate sector in Lebanon. However, he added, prices of high-end flats will stabilize after this summer while prices of small and medium flats will keep on increasing for the coming two years. “This is due to the big supply of high-end flats and a lack of small and medium flats in the Lebanese market. Every developer is looking at high-end flats and the market will be soon saturated,” he said.

The remarks came during an exhibition held in parallel with the Lebanon Property Investment Forum organized by the World Trade Center at the Movenpick Hotel in Beirut. The forum aims at providing timely and insightful perspectives on the future prospects of the property market in Lebanon.

It also provides a global networking and educational platform for local, regional and international property professionals to share their knowledge, expertise and visions.

During the opening, Minister of State Adnan Kassar said investment in the real estate sector in Lebanon reached $7 billion in 2009, reflecting the resilience of the local economy amid the global recession. “The sales volume of real estate properties in Lebanon increased by the end of 2009 and the number of registered square meters reached 7.5 million while construction permits rose remarkably as well,” he said.

According to a report prepared by Ray White International, property transactions increased by 33.8 percent year-on-year in 2008 and another 21.76 percent year-on-year in 2009 for a total of 55.56 percent in just two years. It added that December 2009 registered a new record in transaction value of LL1,875.2 billion, up 40.8 percent from 2008.

The report also stated that the Order of Engineers of Lebanon recently announced that the number of construction permits for December 2009 is much lower compared to those issued in December 2008, bringing the total number of permits issued in 2009 to 14,327, compared to 16,058 in 2008. But the number of construction permits up until November 2009 was 5.6 percent higher than 2008, and the high number of permits issued in December 2008 translated into a construction boom in 2009.

Kassar, who was representing President Michel Sleiman, praised the sound regulations in Lebanon which guarantee equal rights to Lebanese and foreign investors.