Morocco’s real estate market is stagnating and needs a new line of product offerings aimed at the country’s non-served or underserved populations, the latest figures indicate.
Earlier this week, Morocco’s central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM), issued a document showing that the country’s real estate market is stagnating, with a growth rate below 1% at the end of the second quarter of 2022.
When asked about the implications of the figures, Amine Mernissi, a real estate expert, pointed to the economic fallout of the pandemic.
Both the COVID-induced economic and the inflationary trends marking the beginning of 2022 have largely worsened the deterioration of the national purchasing power, sending a compound effect through Morocco’s real estate market, the expert told Morocco’s News Agency (MAP).
Even real estate in the type of land, which are largely considered safe assets to hold in times of crisis, is currently losing value due to the drop in demand, the expert explained.
In addition, the market is shuddering from low funding as economic uncertainty results in the rightening of loan issuing from banks, meaning that banks are more reluctant to issue loans due to the potential rise in default rates.
The expert further pointed out the shortage of housing for the country’s middle class, and the lack of a new strategy for social housing, arguing that Morocco needs a line of product offerings to stimulate demand and reach out to the underserved population.
Noting the growth in the national business real estate market, the expert said that the 7.2% the market saw reflects the post-pandemic recovery in economic activities.
He concluded that COVID-19 has paved the way for new opportunities that the real estate market could benefit from by adopting the right strategies moving forward.
News Source: Morocca World News
