Figures released by the Ministry of Finance show that 37,609 real estate transactions took place in the first seven months of 2020, constituting an increase of 48.2% from 25,384 deals in the same period of 2019. In comparison, there were 33,199 real estate transactions in the first seven months of 2018 and 39,910 real estate deals in the same period of 2017. The number of transactions reached 10,393 in July 2020, up from 8,339 in June, and relative to 3,427 deals in July 2019. The increase in real estate activity in July 2020 mainly reflects the continuous migration of some deposits out of the banking sector towards real estate. Also, the normalization of activity in public agencies and departments, as the government lifted the lockdown measures that it enforced following the outbreak of the coronavirus, affected the processing of transactions in March, April, and partially in May.

Further, there were 7,153 real estate transactions in the Baabda area in the first seven months of 2020, representing 19% of the total. The Metn district followed with 4,937 deals (13.1%), then the North with 4,883 transactions (13%), the South with 4,800 deals (12.8%), the Keserwan region with 4,611 transactions (12.3%), the Zahlé area with 4,000 deals (10.6%), Beirut with 3,212 transactions (8.5%), and the Nabatieh area with 2,993 deals (8%).
 
The aggregate amount of real estate transactions reached $7.18bn in the first seven months of 2020 and increased by 137.5% from $3.02bn in the same period of 2019. In comparison, the amount of real estate deals regressed by 33.6% in the first seven months of 2019 and declined by 15.4% in the same period of 2018. The amount of transactions reached $1.79bn in July 2020, up from $1.68bn in June 2020 and from $298.2m in July 2019. Further, the value of real estate transactions in Beirut totaled $2.57bn and accounted for 35.8% of the total in the first seven months of 2020. The Metn district followed with $1.23bn (17.2%), then the Baabda region with $1.22bn (17%), the Keserwan area with $819.1m (11.4%), the South with $580.9m (8.1%), the North with $333.6m (4.6%), the Zahlé area with $223.6m (3.1%), and the Nabatieh region with $165.3m (2.3%). The amount of real estate transactions in Beirut increased by 185% in the first seven months of 2020, followed by deals in the Keserwan region (+172%), the Baabda area (+145%), the South (+139%), the Metn district (+99.4%), the Nabatieh region (+85%), the Zahlé area (+80%), and the North (+54.2%).
 
In parallel, the average amount per real estate transaction was $191,001 in the first seven months of 2020, up by 60.3% from an average of $119,147 in the same period of 2019 and relative to an average of $137,267 in the first seven months of 2018. Further, there were 533 real estate transactions executed by foreigners in the first seven months of 2020, compared to 553 deals in the same period of 2019 and to 669 transactions in the first seven months of 2018. The number of real estate deals by foreigners accounted for 1.4% of total real estate transactions in the covered period, down from 2.2% in the first seven months of 2019 and from 2% in the same period of 2018. 
 
Further, 24.4% of real estate transactions executed by foreigners in the first seven months of 2020 were in the Baabda area, followed by Beirut (23.6%), the Metn district (18%), the South (9.6%), the Keserwan region (7.7%), the North and the Zahlé area (7.3% each), and the Nabatieh region (2.1%). Iraqi citizens accounted for 31% of the amount of real estate transactions executed by foreigners in July 2020, followed by Qataris (25%), Saudi citizens (18%), Syrian nationals (10.7%), and Russian citizens (4.2%).