Kuwaiti real estate sales rise 15%

SALES RISE: Kuwait real estate sales increased 15% year-on-year in March. (Getty Images)

Kuwaiti real estate sales rose 15% year-on-year in March driven by non-residential property deals, according to official data, despite government vows to bring down property prices to tackle record inflation.

Inflation jumped to a record of 9.5% in January driven mainly by a 16.1% rise in housing costs.

RELATED: Kuwaiti inflation hits record high

The value of all real estate deals - including residential, investment and commercial property - rose to around 277.4 million dinars ($1.04 billion) in March compared to 240.5 million dinars a year ago, government data obtained by newswire Reuters showed.

Residential sales, the biggest part of the real estate business, rose to 143.46 million dinars in March compared to 140.53 million dinars in the same month last year.

Commercial property jumped 165% to 35.34 million dinars, while investment property rose around 13.74% to 98.56 million dinars.

The total number of deals fell to 873 in March from 1,065 a year earlier, the data showed.

The central bank urged the government last week to tackle record inflation by giving away more land to citizens.

RELATED: Kuwait cbank calls for anti-inflation efforts

The government said in February it raised subsidies on building materials such as steel and cement.

More than 90% of land is owned by the government. (Reuters)

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