Morocco’s Real Estate Sector Stalls as Pandemic Lockdown Halts Activities

The revival of Moroccan real estate activities depends on the lifting of the lockdown measure, declared Kevin Gormand, general manager and co-founder of Mubawab, the leading digital platform in the real estate sector in Morocco. And for good reason, the sector has come to a standstill due to the health crisis. Sales offices are closed, construction sites are suspended, no home visits and it is impossible to carry out real estate transactions. Mohamed Lahlou, former founding president of the Moroccan Association of Real Estate Agencies (AMAI) declares, for his part, that real estate agencies have been at a complete standstill since the announcement of the lockdown. Faced with this, a drop of at least 15% in the sales and rentals expected for 2020 is to be expected, reports the Map.

The national consumption of cement, the main barometer of the construction sector, is in free fall. For the month of March 2020, it shows a sharp drop of 28.7%. This has led to a significant drop in sales in March and April, which could extend to May. Real estate players unanimously recognize that covid-19 has hit their sector hard. As a result, supply and demand, for apartments or villas, have recorded a net decline in absolute values.

For the players, the impact of the crisis on real estate prices depends on the duration of the lockdown. To this will be added access to credit and the applied rate, the duration of the processing and the behavior of the buyer. Meanwhile, Kevin Gormand thinks that the drop in transactions will not necessarily lead to a drop in real estate prices. He specifies that for new real estate, the impact will depend on the financial situation of real estate developers.

In any case, banks are being called upon to grant payment facilities. For the prospects, he says that a significant drop in prices should be considered if the crisis lasts longer. This will help relieve bank loans and the cash flow of developers.