The overall activity in the real estate market was dull in the first 10 months of 2018, compared to the same period in 2017

The total value of property transactions in the Sultanate till the end of October 2018 declined by 2.5% to reach RO2.2 billion from RO2.3 billion for the same period of 2017, as indicated by the preliminary statistics issued by National Center for Statistics and information (NCSI).

The Sultanate’s government collected RO72.1 million as real estate transaction fees during January-October period this year, 6.8% higher compared to the same period of last year. Of the total traded value till the end of October 2018, RO802.2 million worth transactions were sales contracts, while RO1.4 billion transactions were mortgage deals.

As many as 49,586 sales contracts were executed in the 10-month period of 2018 against 50,616 contracts during the same period of 2017.

However, the total number of mortgage contracts fell by 15.2% to reach 13,815 against 16,298 contracts in 2017. NCSI data reveal a significant fall in traded value of exchange (barter) contracts by 25.9% during the January-October 2018 period to RO 14 million, as against RO 18.9 million posted last year over the comparable period. The number of barter contracts witnessed a rise of 54.9% to 1,287, compared to 831 contracts in 2017.

As for plots issued till the end of October 2018, the number stood at 187,735, which is a decline of 0.4% from the end of October 2017, when 188,518 plots were issued.

The number of plots allocated to GCC citizens surged by 17.1% to reach 1,221 plots compared to 1,043 plots during the same period last year, the data showed.