Oman's real estate deals surge by 25%

Muscat: The real estate market in the Sultanate is recovering, with sale deals showing a robust growth in the first two months of 2018.
Reflecting the market trend and investor sentiment, the total value of property deals in the country during January-February of 2018 surged by 24.6 per cent to OMR565.3 million, compared with OMR453.5 million for the same period of last year, according to the latest monthly statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Fees collected from all legal transactions stood at OMR15.5 million, comprising an increase by 21.2 percent.
Of the total value in the first two months, OMR179.5 million worth of deals were sale contracts, constituting a decline by 7.4 per cent, while OMR382.3 million transactions were mortgage deals.
As many as 10,611 sale contracts were executed in January till February 2018, compared with 10,615 deals for the same period of last year, the NSCI data showed. It seems that the recent firm trend in oil prices and the recovery in economic activity is aiding a firm trend in the real estate market as well.
However, the total number of mortgage contracts plunged by 24.6 percent to 2,545, worth OMR382.3 million in the first two months of 2018, against mortgage contracts worth OMR256 million during the same period of last year.
The value of exchange contracts stood at OMR3.5 million, comprising 7.4 percent till the end of February 2018 against OMR3.8 million till the end of February 2017. The number of exchange contracts rose by 76.8 percent to 290 contracts as of the end of February 2018, compared to 164 contracts during the same period in 2017.
Also, 44,958 plots were allocated in the first two months of 2018, against 40,254 plots in the same period of last year, indicating a growth of 11.7 percent.
As many as 271 plots were allocated to GCC citizens from January till February 2018.