The total value of property transactions in the Sultanate till the end of May 2020 fell 19.5% to reach OMR878.9 million from OMR1,091.2 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 May 2020 was 58,362, which is a decline of 38% from the end of May 2019, when 94,171 plots were issued.

Of the total traded value until the end of May 2020, OMR283.7 million worth transactions were sales contracts, while OMR586 million transactions were mortgage deals.

As many as 15,949 sales contracts were executed in the end of May 2020 against 25,322 contracts during the same period of 2019. However, the total number of mortgage contracts fell by 39.7% to reach 4,146 contracts against 6,875 contracts in 2019.

Sultanate's government collected OMR22.5 million as real estate transaction fees until the end of May 2020, which is a drop of 40.8% compared to the same period of 2019.

NCSI data reveal a significant fall in traded value of exchange (barter) contracts by 8.4% in the end of May 2020 period to OMR9.2 million, as against OMR10 million posted in the comparable period of 2019.

The number of barter contracts witnessed a fall of 31.5% to a total of 502, compared to 733 contracts in 2019.

The number of plots allocated to GCC citizens fell by 61.4% to reach 167 plots compared to 433 plots during the same period of 2019, the data showed.