Kuwaiti real estate sales rose 41 per cent in the year to November, on high sales of residential and commercial property, official data showed on Monday.

The sales in the Gulf state rose to KD193.15 million ($672.6 million) from KD137.01 million in November 2008, the data showed.

Residential property deals, which represent the biggest portion of total real estate transactions, were up 36 per cent to KD87.56 million, compared to KD64.38 million a year earlier.

Property sales, especially residential units, had been falling since the government placed restrictions in 2008 barring private firms from trading in existing houses to prevent
unjustified increases in prices.

The real estate market is expected to strengthen further in 2010 after it saw a gradual recovery in the second half of 2009, National Bank of Kuwait said in a research note in October.

Investment property sales rose 1.1 per cent to KD66.74 million, while commercial property rose almost six times to KD38.85 million in November, compared with the same month a year earlier. In October, real estate sales soared 52.6 per cent
 year-on-year, the data showed.-Reuters