The Oman residential rental market remained under pressure during the first quarter of 2016, it was reported.
A decrease in demand for rented accommodation and larger housing units resulted in a 12.7 percent year-on-year decline in average residential rents during the first quarter, reported Trade Arabia.
Companies are minimising expenses by reducing headcounts and housing allowances, according to leading consultancy house PKF, said the report.
Recent large supply of new quality apartments in Muscat has been absorbed quickly due to a sustained growth in the expat population and increasing demand for smaller-sized units.
As a result, vacancy rates across the villa segment increased, leading to a 14.1 per cent decline in average monthly villa lease rates, said PKF.
In Oman’s residential sales market, the number of sales contracts during Q1 increased slightly by 0.3 per cent to 20,963, when compared to the same quarter in 2015, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information.
Despite the increase in transactional activity, the total traded value of property in the sultanate amounted to RO922.1 million ($2.38 billion) in Q1, representing a year-on-year decline of 30.3 per cent. The quarter also witnessed a 39.5 per cent fall in the number of properties issued for GCC nationals.
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