Local housing market sees year-end uptick with sales increasing by 10-15%

AMMAN — As the year comes to a close, the local housing market has witnessed a modest resurgence in demand revival with the sales increasing by nearly 10-15 per cent, revealed sector representatives.

According to a recent report by the Department of Land and Survey, the local sales volume of apartments during the first 10 months of 2023 declined by 26 per cent compared with the same period of 2022. Moreover, the overall sales volume of land plots was 25 per cent less during the same period when compared with last year.

The capital and Zarqa stand out as the governorates in which apartments were mostly bought, the reported said.

Mahmoud Salah, a housing expert, told The Jordan Times that “sales of apartments in Amman and Zarqa in particular have risen by over 10 per cent and the reason for the increase is most likely due to year-end offers and discounts”. 

However, he said that sector investors’ net earnings this year have plummeted by at least 30 per cent. He noted that such decrease is pushed by high inflation and high costs, as well as lower demand for property due to rising living costs. 

Salah added that expatriates and buyers from Syria, Iraq and Kuwait constitute the majority of buyers in the Kingdom.

Similarly, the former president of the Jordan Housing Developers Association (JHDA), Kamal Awamleh, told The Jordan Times that “At the end of each year, sales increase due to the discounts offered by sector investors…this offers buyers an opportunity particularly to first-time home buyers to secure themselves within their budget.”

“Customers usually expect a good deal during end of year,” he explained. 

Discounts are offered in order to balance buyers’ expectations while aiming to stay competitive even with the increasing operational costs, he added. 

He expected that sector operators would run more discounts heading into the end of the year, in order to retain as much profit as possible and improve their financial performance.

The report noted that real estate sales to non-Jordanian investors have dropped by nearly 23 per cent in November when compared with the same period in 2022, while housing sales in September were 20 per cent higher this year when compared with the same month in 2022.