Sultanate of Oman sees a dip in its residential and commercial property renting business, media reports said. It is reported that factors such as the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, low oil prices and slump in expat population has led to the grim situation.
The economic landscape of the sultanate has been further hampered by the pandemic. However, the property market expects to face challenges because the long-term impact on the market is still unclear.
Ihsan Kharouf, head of Savills Oman, told the media, “Expatriates play a significant role in influencing demand for real estate. Market conditions in both the residential and office space rental sectors in Muscat were already in slowdown or recession prior to the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of slow economic growth and negligible net population growth.”
According to property advisors, the premium residential units are likely to strive during the pandemic. The report indicated that property rental prices have tumbled because more expats are leaving the sultanate.
It is reported that the total expat population in Oman recorded a year-on-year 2.9 percent slump between December 2018 and December 2019. The decrease of expats is due to increasing restrictions on expatriate employment in the sultanate which embarked four years ago. Moreover, the percentage of highly qualified expatriates dropped slumped by 17.6 percent between 2016 and the first quarter of 2020. And the overall expatriate employees tumbled 6.8 percent during the same period.