Bahrain registered a total of 13,452 real estate transactions in H1 2025, marking a 16.4 per cent increase as compared to H1 2024, said a report. Transaction values increased by 3.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, amounting to a total of BD775.2 million ($2.056 billion), said CBRE’s Bahrain Real Estate Market Review H1 2025.

Average actual apartment sale rates experienced a decrease of two per cent in H1 2025 compared to H2 2024, and villa sales rates also fell by 2.3 per cent following a period of marginal increases. While quoted apartment rents saw a marginal increase of 1.0 per cent for the first time following a period of consistent declines, the trend of marginal yet consistent decline continued for villas with average quoted rates falling by 1.0 per cent.

Average occupancy across CBRE’s set of 21 tracked retail centres (Super Regional to Regional Category) decreased by 1.9 per cent from H2 2024 to 66.9 per cent in H1 2025, despite increases or no change at half of the properties, due to added supply. Super Regional malls now account for 29 per cent of the total retail GLA in Bahrain, whilst regional malls account for the largest share at 37 per cent. Average Grade A and B office rates remain at BD5.1/sq m/month across tracked locations.

CBRE has witnessed a notable shift in interest towards sustainability practices within office properties across the region, as developers and occupiers alike look to catch up with the standards in other parts of the world, the report said.