'Rents to drop by at least 7 per cent in 2017 in Muscat'

Muscat: Residential rents are likely to drop by 7 per cent this year, according to research by Cluttons.

Rents dropped by 10 per cent in 2016 and will continue to fall in 2017 especially in accomodation with low maintenance and amenities for tenants.

The first quarter of 2017 witnessed a stable rate of housing units with a decline of only 0.6 percent for the period of January to March.

Rent for office space is expected to fall by 10-15 per cent due to low demand.

"We believe that the prices of residential units may have bottomed out or are nearly there, especially in some areas," Faisal Durrani, head of research at Cluttons said.

"The combination of economic situation that has led to an expat erosion and the continuous oversupply is the reason for lowering rents. We expect it to remain relatively stable this year but there will be a small drop in rents especially in areas that havent seen steep decline in rents over the past few years," Matthew Wright, Head of Consultancy at Cluttons said.