The number of planned plots of land in the Sultanate last year declined 8% to 49,520 compared with the prior year, while plots issued increased 45% to 42,837, according to latest data released by the (NCSI).
Al Wusta had the largest number of planned :
The Centre’s bulletin on housing statistics shows that the governorate of Al Wusta had the largest number of planned plots at 10,999. Sharqiah North ranked second with 10,752 planned plots, followed by Dhakhliyah with 8,005 plots of land. North Batinah had 7,471 planned plots, while Dhofar had 3,384 planned plots of land. The highest decrease in the number of planned plots was recorded in Buraimi governorate which recorded a decline of 91% taking the number to 255 last year from 2,732 planned plots in 2014. Al Batinah South Governorate witnessed a decrease of 80% in the number of planned plots during the period with 2,604 plots last year. The number of planned plots of land in the Musandam governorate stood at 887,000, while Muscat had 1,843 pieces of planned land. Dhahirah and Sharqiah South had respectively 1,520 and 800 pieces of planned land last year.
Number of issued plots registered a 45% :
Number of issued plots registered a 45% growth last year compared with 2014, which went up to 42,837 plots, from 29,636 pieces of land granted in the prior year. Al Batinah South Governorate received the largest share of issued land last year with 10,214 plots, followed by Dhakliyah with 8,861 plots, and Sharqiah North with 5,021 plots of land issued. Dhofar governorate registered the highest percentage increase in issued land at 1446% with the number of granted plots reaching 4,482 last year from just 290 plots in 2014. Al Wusta witnessed the highest decline in allotted land at 65%, with numbers falling from 1688 in 2014 to 594 in 2015. In Musandam, the number of granted plots decreased by 27%, from 180 plots in the year 2014 to 131 plots last year.
Al Batinah North Governorate stood at 4,071 :
The number of plots issued in Al Batinah North Governorate stood at 4,071, Sharqiah South issued 3,353 pieces of land. Dhahirah issued 2935 plots while Muscat and Buraimi issued 2382 and 793 plots of land respectively last year. Plots developed for residential use formed the largest segment of planned plots with their numbers reaching 40,589 in 2015 and making 82% of the total planned plots. Plots for government use came second at 5276 planned plots with a share of 10.6%. Plots for commercial use accounted for 4.25% of the total planned plots at 1726 plots, while those for residential and commercial use formed 3.39% of the planned plots at 1376 plots. As many as 544 plots were for industrial use, accounting for 1.3% of the total planned plots, while 9 plots were planned for agricultural use. Meanwhile the number of plots issued for residential use reached 39,267, marking a share of 91.6% of the total plots issued, followed by 1,931 plots for government to use (4.5%) and 694 plots for residential-commercial use (1.6%).
Plots granted for commercial and industrial uses numbered 463 and 398 respectively with a corresponding share of 1.8% and 0. 9% of the total plots granted. The number of plots given for agricultural use stood at 84. The number of registered plots of land in 2015 stood at 52,672, of which 47,652 plots were for residential use. Plots registered for residential commercial use numbered 1,777 while agricultural plots numbered 1,528 plots. Plots registered for industrial use stood at 728, while plots for government use reached 183. As many as 804 plots were registered for commercial use.
Kuwaiti citizens held a 46% :
GCC citizens possessed 2,259 properties in 2015. Among this, Kuwaiti citizens held a 46% share of the plots at 1,0 42, followed by UAE citizens with a share of 40% or 901 plots. National of Qatar and Bahrain owned 105 and 112 properties respectively (nearly 5%), while citizens of Saudi Arabia owned 99 properties. The largest number of plots owned by the GCC nationals was in Al Batinah North Governorate at 639, mostly residential plots. On the other hand, the number of households benefiting from housing loans stood at 1,957. Loans issued to them exceeded OMR 48.44 million last year. Oman Housing Bank provided 898 housing loans worth OMR 78.99 million, while the Ministry of Defence issued 731 loans worth over OMR 45.50 million. The number of loans provided by the PDO in 2015 stood at 429 exceeding OMR 26.11 million.
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