_Willing Buyer / Seller Conundrum

Whether there will be any willing sellers in the GCC markets is the key market question at present. Buyer and seller motivation is critical to understand for the next 12 months in the GCC. 

There are well capitalised pockets in the form of private equity, looking for opportunities in the region and therefore there are likely to be opportunistic willing buyers. Whether sellers are willing sellers or distressed is crucial to understand going forward. They key role of valuers now is to determine whether it’s the market that’s distressed or the particular property itself that is distressed. Debt is currently cheap in the GCC now, and although local banks may be busy currently working with existing customers to restructure and “amend and extend” loan terms, there will still be debt available for income producing / operational assets where the buyer has liquidity and balance sheet resilience.