Market Highlights

• The Kingdom of Bahrain has maintained its leading position among Arab countries as a free economy, according to the 2023 Economic Freedom of the World report published by the Fraser Institute.
• As part of the Economic Recovery Plan (ERP) launched in 2021, strategic plans were launched such as the IndustrialSector Strategy (2022-2026) to bolster the sector’s contribution to GDP, increase exports, etc. 
• The Tourism Sector Strategy which was also launched as part of the ERP has played an instrumental role inimproving the tourism infrastructure and promoting Bahrain as a premier tourist destination. This initiative has already resulted in a surge in tourist arrivals to the country.
• Residential: The market sentiment remained stable for the sector with inquirylevels and transactions being concentrated across the mid-endand high-end segment of properties. Rental values remained largely stable across apartments andvillas in the quarter, however, recorded a correction of 1% y-o-y. Low and mid-end apartment rental rates shrunk by 5.6% and 3.5%y-o-y respectively, whilst high-end apartment rentals rose nearly1% over the same period.
• Commercial: Stability in the office sector translatedto no price movements over the lastquarter in all office sub-sectors. Large companies are still downsizing as companies continue to offer hybrid working models since the pandemic. As a result the demand for co-working spaces is on the rise in the market as it offers scalability, flexibility in lease terms, etc.,

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