Rents on apartments fell by almost 4% in Qatar in Q2 2010, according to the UAE-based real estate services firm Asteco.

The company says that the downturn in the residential rental market has provided prospective tenants with more choice of accommodation while landlords are becoming more flexible with their rents and in some cases offering incentives such as rent free periods. Apartment rents in the Gulf state had previously fallen by 11% in the first quarter.’

Jed Wolfe, associate director at Asteco, said: “On the sales side, transactions remained flat in the second quarter, which could indicate the market is bottoming out, but relaxing mortgage requirements would go a long way towards helping the market recover.

"Major banks in Qatar have started to promote retail mortgage products aimed at Qataris and expatriates looking to buy property at The Pearl-Qatar.

"Although the restrictions on mortgages remain stringent, there are signs that banks are becoming more flexible with their lending requirements."