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Oman’s Real Estate Transactions Grow by 16%

General view of old Muscat, Oman, January 12, 2020. REUTERS/Christopher Pike/File Photo
General view of old Muscat, Oman, January 12, 2020. REUTERS/Christopher Pike/File Photo
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Oman’s Real Estate Transactions Grow by 16%

General view of old Muscat, Oman, January 12, 2020. REUTERS/Christopher Pike/File Photo
General view of old Muscat, Oman, January 12, 2020. REUTERS/Christopher Pike/File Photo

The total value of property transactions in the Sultanate of Oman at the end of October 2021 increased by 16.2 percent over the same period of 2020, according to data issued by the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The government collected RO62.6 million as real estate transaction fees at the end of October 2021, which represents an increase of 8.2 percent over the same period last year.

The traded value of sales contracts also increased by 52.9 percent to reach RO189,300,000, and the number of sales contracts increased by 48.7 percent to 74,032 contracts, compared to 49,787 contracts during the same period in 2020.

Meanwhile, the traded value of mortgage contracts dropped by 0.9 percent at the end of October 2021 to reach RO1,197,400, compared to RO1,208,400 during the same period last year.

The number of mortgage contracts was 15,380 – an increase of 34.1 percent over the same period in 2020, which recorded 11,466 contracts.

NCSI data also showed a drop in traded value of exchange contracts by 9.74 percent at the end of October 2021 to RO 15.2 million, against RO 60.6 million in the same period last year.

The number of title deeds issued at the end of October 2021 was 210,858, an increase of 37.7 percent over the same period of 2020, in which 15,398 title deeds were issued.

The number of title deeds issued for GCC citizens increased by 112.9 percent to 594, compared to 279 issued during the same period in 2020.

Oman is a relatively small oil producer, and is more sensitive to the fluctuations in crude prices than its oil and gas-rich Gulf neighbors. The country was severely affected by the price collapse in 2020, and in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Standard & Poor’s said in October that it revised its outlook on the Sultanate of Oman to positive from stable due to higher oil prices and its financial reform plans that are expected to reduce the government deficit and slow the rise in debt levels over the next three years.

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Inflation Rose to 2.3% in Europe. That Won't Stop the Central Bank from Cutting Interest Rates

A view shows the Bercy Economy and Finance Ministry as a metro operated by the Paris transport network RATP passes over the Pont de Bercy bridge in Paris, France, November 28, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
A view shows the Bercy Economy and Finance Ministry as a metro operated by the Paris transport network RATP passes over the Pont de Bercy bridge in Paris, France, November 28, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
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Inflation Rose to 2.3% in Europe. That Won't Stop the Central Bank from Cutting Interest Rates

A view shows the Bercy Economy and Finance Ministry as a metro operated by the Paris transport network RATP passes over the Pont de Bercy bridge in Paris, France, November 28, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
A view shows the Bercy Economy and Finance Ministry as a metro operated by the Paris transport network RATP passes over the Pont de Bercy bridge in Paris, France, November 28, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

Inflation in the 20 countries that use the euro currency rose in November — but that likely won’t stop the European Central Bank from cutting interest rates as the prospect of new US tariffs from the incoming Trump administration adds to the gloom over weak growth.
The European Union’s harmonized index of consumer prices stood up 2.3% in the year to November, up from 2.0% in October, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reported Friday.
Energy prices fell 1.9% from a year ago, but that was offset by price increases of 3.9% in the services sector, a broad category including haircuts, medical treatment, hotels and restaurants, and sports and entertainment, The Associated Press reported.
Inflation has come down a long way from the peak of 10.6% in October 2022 as the ECB quickly raised rates to cool off price rises. It then started cutting them in June as worries about growth came into sharper focus.
High central bank benchmark rates combat inflation by influencing borrowing costs throughout the economy. Higher rates make buying things on credit — whether a car, a house or a new factory — more expensive and thus reduce demand for goods and take pressure off prices. However, higher rates can also dampen growth.
Growth worries got new emphasis after surveys of purchasing managers compiled by S&P Global showed the eurozone economy was contracting in October. On top of that come concerns about how US trade policy under incoming President Donald Trump, including possible new tariffs, or import taxes on imported goods, might affect Europe’s export-dependent economy. Trump takes office Jan. 20.
The eurozone’s economic output is expected to grow 0.8% for all of this year and 1.3% next year, according to the European Commission’s most recent forecast.
All that has meant the discussion about the Dec. 12 ECB meeting has focused not on whether the Frankfurt-based bank’s rate council will cut rates, but by how much. Market discussion has included the possibility of a larger than usual half-point cut in the benchmark rate, currently 3.25%.
Inflation in Germany, the eurozone’s largest economy, held steady at 2.4%. That “will strengthen opposition against a 50 basis point cut,” said Carsten Brzeski, global chief of macro at ING bank, using financial jargon for a half-percentage-point cut.
The ECB sets interest rate policy for the European Union member countries that have joined the euro currency.