The total value of property transactions in Oman in the first five months fell 14 percent to RO1.09 billion ($2.82 billion) from RO1.26 billion ($3.26 billion) for the same period last year, according to a report. The number of properties issued till the end of May 2019 stood at 94,171, down 8.8 per cent from the end of May 2018, when 103,211 properties were issued, reported Oman Observer, citing the preliminary statistics issued by National Centre for Statistics and information (NCSI). Of the total traded value for the five-month period, RO418.9 million worth of transactions were sales contracts, while RO662.4 million transactions were mortgage deals, it said. As many as 25,322 sales contracts were executed in May against 26,894 contracts during the same period in 2018, it stated. However, the total number of mortgage contracts fell by 7.4 per cent to reach 6,875 contracts against 7,423 contracts in 2018, it added. The sultanate's government collected RO38.1 million as real estate transaction fees till the end of May 2019, which is a drop by 5.8 per cent compared to the same period of 2018, according to the data. The number of properties allocated to GCC citizens fell by 41.6 per cent to reach 433 properties compared to 742 properties during the same period of 2018, it added. Source: Trade Arabia
