The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning said on Monday that the value of real estate transactions in Oman reached OMR213.1 million in July.
In July, the traded value of mortgage contracts reached OMR136 million, the traded value of sales collected OMR74, and swap contracts OMR2.1 million.
A total of OMR 4.2 million in fees were collected for legal transactions, of which OMR 996,400 was paid for mortgages, OMR 43,500 for swap contracts, and OMR 1.6 million for sale contracts.
A total of 8,295 legal transactions, including 4,136 sales contracts, 82 exchange agreements, 1,349 mortgage contracts, 1,155 grant agreements, 265 inheritance contracts, 615 mortgage release agreements, and 693 splitting contracts, were listed in the statement.
In all governorates of the Sultanate of Oman, 15,087 title deeds were issued during the month of July 2022. Of these, 3,075 were issued in Muscat, 944 in Dhofar, 129 in Musandam, 337 in Al Buraimi, 2,061 in Al Dakhiliyah, 2,720 in North Al Batinah, 2,399 in South Al Batinah, 899 in South Al Sharqiyah, 1,090 in North Al Sharq.
Up to 39 titles were given to GCC nationals, with the Governorate of Muscat receiving the most of them, followed by North Al Batinah and South Al Batinah.
There were 3,216 plots of land that were registered for the first time overall, and 1,483 applications for ownership evidence and registration were submitted. Of those, 484 applications were granted ownership, and the remaining 385 required a site inspection.
On the other hand, the ministry experienced a number of efforts in July, perhaps the most notable of which was the offering of 22 lands under the usufruct system for electronic bidding on the “Tatweer” platform in 6 distinct wilayats with strong investment potential and population density. As the ministry continued to grant lands to qualified applicants for the years 2022 and 2023 through the “Choose Your Land” service, it also signed usufruct contracts for the use of commercial and industrial lands as well as others in the area of food security with a total value of more than OMR36 million.
Regarding communication and participation, the ministry took part in the third session of the Arab Conference on Sustainable Cities, which was held in the Governorate of Dhofar and was titled “Cities and the Green Economy.” This conference aims to present the national strategy for urban development, discuss the green economy and how it affects sustainable cities, and encourage integration and partnership around upcoming projects with various sectors and achieving shared objectives.
A memorandum of cooperation between the Directorate General of Housing and Urban Planning in North Al Sharqiya Governorate and the University of Technology and Applied Sciences in Ibra was also signed by the ministry. Its goals include the sharing of scientific knowledge, the improvement of students’ and employees’ skills in a variety of fields, the promotion of education and learning, scientific training, and the sharing of research findings.
On the other hand, the ministry provided supervisory positions to promote housing services and involved the public in their hopes and recommendations for the integrated service station through a variety of ministry-run platforms.
In terms of the urban strategy’s initiatives, an executive committee made up of the relevant authorities has been formed to carry out the projects, create the structural plans for Muscat, Salalah, Nizwa, and Greater Sohar, organize the Wilayat of Jabal Al Akhdar’s accelerated development, and set up a control center to monitor the projects’ progress.
In order to discover multiple housing options, the real estate development sector is of interest to the ministry. To that end, the ministry has continued to enhance the societal norms around safe and secure real estate activities. In addition, four services inside “Sale Registration” on the “Amlak” platform have been launched in the area of digital transformation with the intention of streamlining and improving processes.
Regarding the social housing projects, during the month of July, efforts were concentrated on housing assistance to finish the processes associated with the registered applications, as a public announcement was made regarding the need to finish application processes in the governorates of Muscat and Quriyat as well as the completion of housing assistance application data in the governorate of South Al Batinah in the wilayats of Barka, Nakhal, Wadi Al Ma’awil, and Al Musa.