Moroccan Real Estate Market Seeks Boost from Expats as Summer Approaches

Real estate developers are working to get the market out of its recent stagnation. A stagnation caused by the slowdown in demand, the high cost of borrowing, and the increase in the cost of real estate due to the rise in the prices of construction materials and the scarcity of buildable land, especially those dedicated to economic housing projects, which have been the driving force behind demand in the market in recent years. To achieve this, real estate developers are betting on an expected increase in demand with the return of Moroccans from abroad, as well as the continued progress of the direct housing acquisition support program, which has not excluded this category of Moroccans, but also the relative stability of interest rates on real estate loans and housing financing, including participatory financing, such as the "Mourabaha" product.

According to the explanations of Nabil Nour, real estate expert and agent in Casablanca, the demand for real estate for housing is not necessarily linked to a particular season. Customers, especially MREs, only use the summer season to examine and compare prices, making actual purchases at a later date, he told Hespress, specifying that these customers now tend to acquire residential real estate for investment purposes through rental and resale. MREs, especially those living in Europe and Canada, are developing a trend of grouping together in collective investment plans, pooling capital and buying land to build on in Morocco, similar to the activities of housing cooperatives, he added. However, he warned that the increase in inflation levels in host countries has forced this category of Moroccans to intensify investments in real estate to preserve the value of their financial savings, highlighting a growing trend towards the acquisition of high-value residential properties in this context.

The first product is now available outside the major urban centers, while its prices have seen a significant increase due to the spread of the black market phenomenon, says Brahim Rajoui, a real estate developer, explaining that "immediate delivery" of the property has become an important attraction factor for MREs. The latest statistics on the market situation and demand show that 61% of the demand is concentrated on apartments for immediate delivery in the cities of Casablanca and Marrakech, the real estate developer also said. For MRE clients arriving in Morocco during the "Marhaba" operation, the immediate handover of the keys represents a source of confidence for them, faced with the increase in cases of real estate fraud, he added.