Morocco’s Real Estate Sector Seeks Revival Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Aware of the need to unite to get the sector out of the rut, real estate professionals insist that the crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic has only revealed an underlying malaise. According to Aujourd’hui Le Maroc, "the sector was suffering from chronic ills and sinking into indefinite inaction even before the current crisis." As for the recovery, professionals remain confident about the future of the sector and are unanimous on "the need to structure actions around demand to save their activities."

The restoration of the sector also involves "revising urban planning rules that heavily penalize the consumer." It will also be necessary to bet on "easing administrative procedures" which, due to their heaviness and slowness, "increase the price of real estate." Professionals for the recovery also demand the activation of "real estate dedicated to the middle class" by promoting "verticality in construction" and by implementing "a detailed program as was previously done for social housing."

Among the urgent issues to be addressed is also the imminent revision of the VEFA (Sale in the Future State of Completion), a law that has been virtually unapplied since its entry into force in 2012 and its recent notification in 2016. According to the newspaper, a bill is being drafted to "fill the gaps in the existing text, which relate to the payment of 5% of the sale price upon signing the reservation deed; which does not protect the rights of the buyer."