Kuwaiti property sales plunged 47% in the second-quarter compared to the year earlier period, as a result of the global financial crisis, official data showed on Sunday.

Property sales in the Gulf Arab state fell to 280.8m dinars (Dh360m) from 529.1m dinars in the second quarter last year, it showed.

'The economy is not growing and is decelerating, you have job destruction and job destruction would lead to higher population risk which will in turn add to the uncertainty on the real estate side,' said Saud Masud, a property and construction analyst at UBS in Dubai.

Residential property deals, which represent the biggest proportion of total real estate transactions, fell 28.1% in the quarter to 142.8m dinars.

The National