Oman mortgages surged last year on falling property prices

• Oman mortgage value up 46%
• Total real estate transcations of OR3.4bn
• Housing prices coming down

The value of mortgage transactions in Oman surged by almost half last year as declining property prices and marginally lower interest rates pulled in first time and other buyers, including from the UAE and around the Gulf.

The total value of mortgages – from a total of 20,680 agreements – rose 46 percent to OR 2.3 billion ($6 billion), figures from the National Center for Statistical Information (NCSI) show.

The total value of real estate transactions jumped 30 percent to OR 3.38 billion year on year.

“Accommodation throughout Oman is getting cheaper to buy or rent because construction of new properties is on the rise,” said Mustafa Hussein, owner of Property Shop, a real estate office based in Muscat.  “The prices have been coming down in the last 15 months and buyers find bargains.”

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Of 13,700 real estate transactions, nationals from around the GCC – over half of whom were from the neighbouring UAE – accounted for about 10 percent, the data show. That number of GCC transactions also rose 10 percent year on year. 

Potentially lower interest rates later this year could spur the market further.
“We expect lower borrowing rates to continue in the second half of this year since the rial is pegged to the dollar,”  said Issa Al Khanjari, head of corporate loans at Muscat Finance.