Muscat: Oman’s property market may be making a gentle but steady comeback as normalcy returns after an extended period of restrictions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is reflected in a preliminary statistical report issued by the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI), which shows that the total value of property transactions in the Sultanate by the end of August 2021 increased by 14.2 per cent to reach RO 1,744,100,000 compared to the same period of 2020.

It is understood that the Government collected RO50.3mn as real estate transaction fees until the end of August 2021, which is a rise of 21 per cent compared to the same period of 2020.

The traded value of sales contracts also increased by 51.1 per cent to RO770,700,000, and the number of sales contracts increased by 74.4 per cent to 56,611 contracts, compared to 32,460 contracts during the same period in 2020.

The traded value of mortgage contracts fell by 0.6 per cent by the end of August 2021, to reach RO959,600,000, compared to RO965,100,000 during the same period in 2020.

The number of mortgage contracts till the end of August 2021 reached 12,402, which marks an increase of 55.2 per cent over the same period in 2020, which recorded 7,989 contracts.

NCSI data revealed a significant drop in the traded value of exchange (barter) contracts by 73.7 per cent by the end of August 2021 to RO13.8mn, against RO52.5mn posted in the comparable period of 2020.

The number of title deeds issued at the end of August 2021 reached 165,417, which is an increase of 54.3 per cent over the same period of 2020, in which 107,192 title deeds were issued.

Meanwhile, the number of title deeds issued in favor of the GCC citizens increased by 94.3 per cent to reach 443, compared to 228 during the same period in 2020, the data showed.