Qatar Business

Doha: According to the Real Estate Registration Department of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the total value of real estate transactions recorded in sale contracts during August 2025 amounted to QR 1,129,980,457. The Analytical Real Estate Bulletin issued by MoJ revealed that 329 real estate transactions were registered during the month. Municipalities of Al Rayyan, Doha, and Al Wakrah led in terms of financial trading volume, as per the Real Estate Market Index. They were followed by Al Daayen, Umm Salal, Al Khobar, Al Dhakira, Al Shamal, and Al Sheehaniya in terms of transaction volumes. The Real Estate Market Index for August indicated that the financial value of transactions in Al Rayyan Municipality reached QR 391,096,367, while Doha Municipality recorded QR 375,355,330, Al Wakrah Municipality QR 125,825,811, and Al Daayen Municipality QR 111,777,608. Umm Salal Municipality registered transactions amounting to QR 80,981,382, Al Khobar and Al Dhakira combined recorded QR 23,899,182, Al Shamal Municipality QR 20,014,777, and Al Sheehaniya Municipality QR 1,030,000. Regarding the traded areas index, Al Rayyan, Doha, and Al Wakrah municipalities were the most active in terms of property areas traded during August, accounting for 39 percent, 22 percent, and 14 percent of the total area traded, respectively. Al Daayen and Umm Salal municipalities each accounted for 10 percent, Al Shamal 3 percent, and Al Khobar and Al Dhakira combined accounted for 2 percent of the total area traded. In terms of the number of real estate transactions (properties sold), Doha and Al Rayyan municipalities led with 26 percent each, followed by Al Wakrah with 17 percent, Al Daayen with 12 percent, Al Khobar and Al Dhakira combined with 5 percent, and Al Shamal with 4 percent of the total real estate transactions. The average price per square foot during August ranged between QR 410 and QR 748 in Doha, QR 248 to QR 422 in Al Wakrah, QR 288 to QR 512 in Al Rayyan, QR 283 to QR 404 in Umm Salal, QR 312 to QR 541 in Al Daayen, QR 228 to QR 815 in Al Khobar and Al Dhakira, QR 198 to QR 217 in Al Shamal, and QR 129 in Al Sheehaniya. The trading volume revealed that the highest value properties sold in August included six properties in Al Rayyan Municipality and four properties in Doha Municipality. Regarding mortgage transactions during August, 97 mortgage transactions were recorded, with a total value of QR 3,858,998,840. Al Rayyan Municipality recorded the highest number of mortgage transactions with 35, accounting for 36.1 percent of the total mortgaged properties, followed by Doha Municipality with 31 transactions (32.0 percent), Al Daayen with 9 transactions (9.3 percent), Umm Salal with 8 transactions (8.2 percent), Al Wakrah with 6 transactions (6.2 percent), Al Khobar and Al Dhakira with 5 transactions (5.2 percent), and Al Shamal with 3 transactions (3.1 percent). In terms of mortgage values, Doha Municipality led with QR 2,476,617,251, while Al Shamal Municipality recorded the lowest value at QR 5,729,605. Analyzing the mortgage operations index by comparing the number of mortgaged properties to their financial value, it was observed that in all municipalities involved in mortgage transactions, the number of mortgaged properties exceeded the value of mortgage transactions, except in Doha Municipality, where the value of mortgage transactions was higher compared to the number of mortgage operations. Regarding the movement and volume of mortgage transactions during the month, Doha Municipality recorded 5 of the top 10 mortgaged properties, Al Rayyan Municipality recorded 4, and Al Wakrah Municipality recorded 1. The volume of mortgage transactions for the top 10 mortgaged properties accounted for 88 percent of the total value of all mortgage transactions conducted during August. The trading of residential units during August recorded 108 transactions with a total value of QR 184,122,771. The real estate trading data for August indicates that the real estate sector continues to experience robust growth across various investment and commercial domains. This sustained active trading reflects the sector's vitality, especially with the issuance of new laws and regulations related to real estate registration, documentation, ownership, and usufruct, alongside laws that attract both domestic and foreign capital. These data also affirm the strength and resilience of the Qatari economy and the ongoing growth of the real estate sector as one of its main components.

Qatar Business

Doha, Qatar: QIIB and Edaa have signed an agreement to facilitate the distribution of dividends to shareholders of companies listed on the Qatar financial market, in line with the regulations issued by the Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA). Under the agreement, Edaa will act on behalf of listed companies to handle the distribution of both cash dividends and bonus shares as decided by those companies. The agreement was signed at Edaa’s headquarters by Sheikh Mohammed bin Jassim Al-Thani, Chief Executive Officer, Edaa and Dr. Abdulbasit Ahmed Al-Shaibei, Chief Executive Officer, QIIB. The signing ceremony was also attended by Jamal Abdullah al-Jamal, Deputy CEO, QIIB, and Hossam Khattab, Head of the Bank’s Financial Sector, along with several senior executives from Edaa. This partnership reflects the commitment of both parties to enhance the dividend distribution system, improving efficiency, speed, and accuracy in serving shareholders by leveraging the latest available digital solutions. As part of the agreement, QIIB will integrate its dividend distribution systems with Edaa’s platform to streamline the process for shareholders. This integration will enable the secure uploading of dividend files, provide real-time updates on paid and unpaid dividends, and allow inquiries using the National Investor Number (NIN). Commenting on the signing, Sheikh Mohammed bin Jassim Al-Thani, CEO, Edaa, said: “This partnership with QIIB marks a significant addition to our ongoing efforts to develop dividend distribution mechanisms and enhance investor confidence. We are committed to providing faster and more accurate processes that ensure dividends reach shareholders in a timely manner. “Our choice of QIIB as a banking partner underscores our confidence in its capabilities, expertise, and dedication to innovation and excellence. This fully aligns with our vision of building a dynamic andsustainable investment environment.” He added: “This agreement with QIIB is a model of fruitful cooperation between national institutions, and we will continue to develop similar strategic partnerships to enhance market efficiency and deliver greater value to investors.” For his part, Dr. Abdulbasit Ahmed Al-Shaibei, CEO, QIIB, said: “We are pleased to sign this agreement with Edaa, which represents an important step towards enhancing financial services offered to investors in the Qatari market. At QIIB, we place the development of digital solutions and the adoption of modern technologies at the core of our strategy. He further stated "We consider this partnership a key milestone that will simplify the dividend distribution process and provide a more efficient and seamless experience for shareholders of listed companies. We believe that expanding digital solutions and integrating with advanced platforms such as Edaa reflects our strong commitment to supporting the national economy and strengthening investor confidence.

Qatar Business

Doha, Qatar: Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), a leading onshore financial and business hub in the region, has launched a pioneering proof of concept (POC) under its Digital Asset Lab, marking a significant step forward in the application of blockchain technology to Islamic finance. This notable development was enabled through the collaboration of a powerful consortium of partners—AlRayan Bank, Blade Labs, and Hashgraph—each contributing unique expertise to a shared vision of financial innovation. The POC will demonstrate a blockchain-based Digital Receipt System (DRS) that can enhance transparency, efficiency, and regulatory compliance in Shariah-compliant asset-backed finance. The system will operate on HashSphere, a private permissioned distributed ledger technology (DLT) network built with Hedera technology, deployed on Google Cloud infrastructure provisioned through QFC’s Digital Asset Lab. This initiative exemplifies a collaborative model where regulatory foresight, technical innovation, and domain expertise converge. QFC serves as the orchestrator of the initiative, providing infrastructure support and subject matter expertise to guide the use case development. Hashgraph delivers and operates the underlying blockchain infrastructure, ensuring secure and scalable network performance, and Blade Labs leads the development of the DRS, including smart contracts and user interfaces tailored to Islamic finance use cases. AlRayan Bank plays a critical role in validating the system’s functionality, offering domain-specific insights and exploring commercialisation pathways, while Google Cloud enterprise-grade infrastructure is utilised for the initiative Commenting on the significance of the project, Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, Chief Executive Officer, QFC, stated: “At QFC, we are committed to building a strong digital asset ecosystem that supports innovation and real-world applications. Through our Digital Assets Lab, we’re proud to facilitate this pilot as a step forward in exploring how blockchain can bring greater efficiency and scalability to Shariah-compliant financial products. This initiative reflects our continued support for tokenisation, financial innovation, and collaboration aligned with the Third Financial Sector Strategic Plan.” Omar Al Emadi, Acting GCEO of AlRayan Bank, said: “Innovation is a cornerstone of Islamic finance, and this initiative reflects AlRayan Bank’s commitment to advancing Shariah-compliant financial solutions that meet the evolving needs of the market. Through our participation in this proof of concept, we reaffirm our role in validating the system’s functionality and laying the groundwork for scalable, practical applications that can strengthen the future of Islamic finance while reinforcing Qatar’s position as a regional hub for financial innovation.” This initiative represents a bold step toward collaborative innovation in financial services. It’s also a strong demonstration of the role and objectives of the Digital Assets Lab. By bringing together diverse expertise across cloud technology, blockchain infrastructure, and Islamic finance, the Lab is facilitating co-experimentation and creation of new digital products and accelerating its commercialisation.