A quick scroll through OLX, one of Lebanon's premier online market places, immediately shows dozens of listings for expensive residential apartments under construction or newly built in Beirut.
Spanning desirable areas of the Lebanese capital, the buildings and accompanying images promise luxury modern living in the heart of Beirut, with views of the Mediterranean Sea and easy access to amenities.
These glossy images of apartments on sale for at least $500,000 stand in stark contrast to the continuing war in other parts of the country and capital, as well as the Israeli drones that hover above Beirut. They bely the reality of a country still reeling from the 2019 economic crisis that plunged much of the country into poverty.
“We couldn't call it a construction boom but a continuing of some of the construction projects. East Beirut is a more stable area and in a way a thriving area in spite of all that is happening,” said Ghassan Hasbani, a former deputy prime minister and now an MP for the area.
Property prices continue to climb, he said, despite the economic and security situation. Mr Hasbani said the relative safety of the area – Israel has not attacked it in the recent wars from 2023 – and private sector investment were responsible for the developments.
“People are flocking to these areas because of what they have to offer, and particularly whatever is left of the Lebanese middle class that can afford these types of properties will relocate.”
A meandering walk from Martyrs' Square in central Beirut takes in at least three major construction sites, adorned with huge yellow cranes and half-built properties.
Among them is a development called Town Square, a 2,800-square metre twin building next to the memorial area.
The site is remarkable because only a stone's throw away is the neighbourhood of Basta, which has been hit with deadly Israeli air strikes purportedly attacking Hezbollah in the past few years.
At the top of a road leading to Basta, a building flattened during the war this year remains in ruins.
New buildings are also being advertised in parts of West Beirut such as Hamra, Verdun and Raouche, overlooking the famed Pigeon Rocks, where some apartments in new or under-construction buildings are being advertised for millions.
“It's hilarious,” said a Beirut architect. “I don't know the exact numbers but say 100 buildings were built last year, then this year it would be 1,000.”
They added that prices per square metre in some parts of the country were reaching pre-economic crisis levels, despite the fact that the crash's effects continue to reverberate today.
A recent note from Ramco, a property advisory firm, warned that “prices are out of sync with the country's security, banking and economic realities”.
The 2019 economic crisis was described by the World Bank as one of the worst in modern history, with the local currency losing more than 95 per cent of its value compared to the US dollar. Depositors were locked out of their life savings.
This continued construction in parts of Beirut is wildly at odds with the situation in other parts of the country.
Huge areas of southern Lebanon, but also Beirut's southern suburbs and parts of the Bekaa Valley, lie in ruins, destroyed by the Israeli military in its continuing conflict with Lebanese armed group and political party Hezbollah.
“No reconstruction is taking place right now because there's no official decision [from the government]. First you've got to reimburse the people, then you can start reconstruction,” a Hezbollah official said of the southern suburbs of Beirut, where the group has strong influence.
Rebuilding is not taking place at all in these areas and in parts of southern Lebanon occupied by the Israeli military, the opposite is happening – more demolitions, shared daily on social media for all to see.
This stands in contrast to parts of East Beirut, which was severely damaged by the 2020 Beirut port blast that killed about 220 people and injured thousands, but has since been largely rebuilt and is home to many of these new developments.
Mr Hasbani said property is also regarded as a safer option than depositing money in the banks, where considerable uncertainty and a lack of trust continues to hold.
“Today, if you earn some cash working outside Lebanon – and most of these developments are bringing money from outside Lebanon, effectively – you have a choice,” he said.
“If you decide to park that cash in real estate because you don't want to deposit it in a bank with all this uncertainty still around, which area would you choose to develop in? Would you go to an area that's unstable or would you go to an area that's more stable? It's all about risk management.”
