Morocco’s Real Estate Sector Eyes Summer 2021 Recovery Amid Pandemic Slump

According to Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) and the National Agency for Land Conservation, Cadastre and Cartography (ANCFCC), the real estate transaction rate has fallen by 15.2% in the kingdom and the contraction in sales has affected all categories of property, with declines in residential (18.2%), land (7.7%) and commercial property (5.4%).

From the analysis of certain developers, it appears that the current context where real estate showrooms are closed after the breaking of the fast, curfew oblige, must be an opportunity to adapt the supply to the demand and to work on the visibility of the sector. "The most worrying at this time is that the supply is not always adapted to the demand, because the land remains very expensive. Our room for maneuver is very limited and purchasing power remains always restricted," observes Anice Benjelloun, vice-president of the National Federation of Real Estate Developers (FNPI). Continuing his diagnosis, he believes that the registration fee, unlike several other measures, had a very positive effect on the customers’ act of purchase. "Unfortunately, this provision will end in June," he regretted.

The time is also one of concern for Leila Berrada, the general manager of the Omnidior group. She is outraged to see the end of the registration fee, which, for her, risks worsening the situation during the summer season even though it (the registration fee) is not the definitive solution. As an example, she indicates, social housing is the most impacted due to the limitation of the purchasing power of the middle class despite the advantages it presents.

Another real estate expert and author of the "Répons’IMMO" guide, Amine Mernissi, does not hide his feeling of uncertainty but nevertheless proposes the solution of adaptation to the new situation that has been imposed for two years. "But just as we have to live with it, we also have to learn to work with it," he said in an interview with MAP.

According to him, real estate developers will have to concentrate all their action during the day and continue to invest in the digital axis to promote their commercial policy and their close relationship with their clientele. These new provisions could allow real estate players to capture the windfall invested in Morocco despite the constraints related to the health crisis. "Moroccans living abroad have invested nearly 7 billion dirhams (MDH) in real estate or land in the past year, or about 10% of the amount of their foreign exchange transfers (70 MMDH)," he recalled, adding that for the summer of 2021, "the beginnings of the preparation of the Marhaba operation are there". In addition, Mr. Mernissi stressed that with vaccination, the indicators can improve significantly and allow greater liberation of economic activity, including real estate, in which its players are determined to take advantage of the summer period to erase the many losses recorded over the past two consecutive years.