MUSCAT: The total value of property transactions in the Sultanate until the end of December 2020 decreased by 11.4% to reach OMR 2,45 billion from OMR 2,77 billion for the same period of 2019, as indicated by the preliminary statistics issued by National Centre for Statistics and information (NCSI).

The number of plots issued until the end of December 2020 was 204,484, which is a decline of 3.2% until the end of December 2019, when 211,191 plots were issued. Of the total traded value until the end of December 2020, OMR 925.7 million worth transactions were sales contracts, while OMR 1,46 billion transactions were mortgage deals. As many as 66,835 sales contracts were executed until the end of December 2020 against 56,887 contracts during the same period of 2019. However, the total number of mortgage contracts fell by 7.2% to reach 14,864 contracts against 16,017 contracts in 2019. Sultanate’s government collected OMR71.1 million as real estate transaction fees until the end of December 2020, which is a drop by 13.6% compared to the same period of 2019. NCSI data reveal a significant rise in traded value of exchange (barter) contracts by 196.1% at the end of December 2020 period to OMR69.0 million, as against OMR23.3 million posted in the comparable period of 2019. The number of barter contracts witnessed a rise of 28.3% to 2,106, compared to 1,641 contracts in 2019.

The number of plots allocated to GCC citizens fell by 54.6% to reach 397 plots compared to 875 plots during the same period of 2019, the data showed.