The total value of property transactions in the Sultanate till the end of February 2020 surged 24% to reach OMR629.2 million from OMR507.5 million 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 till the end of February 2020 was 36,523, which is a decline of 5.7% from the end of February 2019, when 3,719 plots were issued.

Of the total traded value till the end of February 2020, OMR165.6 million worth transactions were sales contracts, while OMR458 billion transactions were mortgage deals.

As many as 9,706 sales contracts were executed in the month of February 2020 against 10,496 contracts during the same period of 2019. However, the total number of mortgage contracts fell by 3.1% to reach 2,435 contracts against 2,514 contracts in 2019.

Sultanate's government collected OMR13.6 million as real estate transaction fees till the end of February 2020, which is a drop of 12% compared to the same period of 2019.

NCSI data reveal a significant rise in traded value of exchange (barter) contracts by 9.2% during the February 2020 period to OMR5.5 million, as against OMR5.1 million posted in the comparable period of 2019.

The number of barter contracts witnessed a fall of 6% to a total of 300, compared to 319 contracts in 2019.

The number of plots allocated to GCC citizens fell by 15.9% to reach 138 plots compared to 164 plots during the same period of 2019, the data showed.