KUWAIT CITY, Oct 20: For the first time in the history of Kuwait, the average rent of an apartment has increased to more than KD 300 per month, reports Al-Anba daily. According to a recent study conducted by the real-estate union, the average rent of an apartment in the second quarter of the year 2015 is KD 313 per month.

On the other hand, the average monthly rent of an apartment in 2013 was KD 264 per month, which is an increase of 18.5 percent in two years.

The union explained that it conducted the study on 4,500 real estates that cover 34.5 percent of the investment real estate, of which the current operational investment real estates constitute 94 percent, which is a very high level.

There are no signs of reduction in the rent any time soon. There are about 320,000 apartments in 13,000 buildings, of which 302,000 apartments are occupied and 18,000 are still empty. Based on these numbers, the union indicated that there is a possibility for rents to drop but not in the near future because 13,700 apartments need to be empty for the rents to drop, which means 13,700 families - majority of them expatriates - must leave the country.

In another report, the Public Authority for Civil Information has indicated that the number of expatriates in Kuwait will continue to increase.