Morocco’s Real Estate Sector Struggles to Recover Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Already facing cash flow problems, operators had to deal with the combined effect of the total shutdown of construction sites and the drop in the volume of pre-sales, as well as the deterioration of household purchasing power, explains Aujourd’hui le Maroc. The health crisis has only further deepened the deficit that promoters had to face.

The daily explains that the market has suffered a severe blow in the current context and that the pandemic has disrupted the investment plans of promoters and limited the performance of the sector. It should be known that the sector was already suffering well before the pandemic, the newspaper points out, recalling that the sector employs no less than one million people and contributes 14% to the national GDP.

"At the beginning of the health emergency state, the market experienced a freeze in activity. The construction sites were completely shut down. Sales, for their part, were blocked for months, severely impacting the cash flow of professionals. Ancillary activities, such as notarial and administrative services, were also suspended. Certainly, the promoters were in difficulty, but they never got discouraged to revitalize the sector and ensure a good start," writes the daily.

Today, and despite the efforts, the recovery is still not there. The upward indicators observed at distinct levels in the sector since the lifting of restrictions do not show a real recovery, given the threat of a new pandemic wave that makes the market players fear great uncertainty.