Residential land prices took the lead in the general index for residential real estate prices in the Sultanate of Oman, posting an increase of 8.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 at a value of RO178.9mn.

A report on this segment was issued for the first quarter of 2023 by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). The report showed that the residential land price index registered a growth of 17.2 per cent and stood at RO126.4mn.

However, the apartment price index went down by 9.6 per cent at a value of RO19.4mn, followed by the downtrend by the price index for villas, which dropped by 6 per cent to RO27mn. The value of other homes shrank by 14.1 per cent to RO6.1mn.

Compared to Q1 in 2022, the general index of residential real estate prices grew by 1.2 per cent, at a time the residential land price index went up by 6.4 per cent. Yet, the prices of apartments went down by 7.8 per cent, villas by 8.6 per cent, and other homes by 16.7 per cent.

The NCSI statistics showed that the number of transactions on selling residential properties at the end of Q1 of 2023 dropped by 12.1 per cent, as against the corresponding period last year (2022).

Residential land plots constituted 88.2 per cent of the real estate transactions, as against 5.4 per cent for residential flats, 3.5 per cent for villas and 2.9 per cent for other households.