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By Carolina McCabe
Rabat – In the fourth quarter of 2018, the Real Estate Price Index (IPAI) in Morocco fell by 0.4 percent, according to data released by Bank Al-Maghrib and the National Agency of Conservation, Land Land Records, and Cartography (ANCFCC). The fall in IPAI allowed transactions to increase by 12 percent from the third quarter of 2018.
The IPAI is a statistical tool used to measure the relative change in real estate prices over time. Within the calculation, the data takes into account residential, commercial, and agricultural real estate purchases.
The data from the central bank demonstrated a fall in real estate prices by 2.4 percent as well as a 1.2 percent price drop in assets for professional use. The price decrease of assets for professional use is attributed to the decline in the prices of commercial land by 0.5 percent and offices by 3.3 percent. In turn, transactions in the category grew by 18 percent, with a 17 percent increase in sales of commercial land and 31 percent in offices.
At the same time, residential prices rose by 0.8 percent. The prices of apartments increased by 0.6 percent, houses by 0.8 percent, and villas by 5.9 percent. Despite higher prices, the number of transactions increased in each category as well by 15 percent, 31 percent, and 40 percent, respectively.
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Quarter on quarter in 2018, the IPAI rose by around 0.3 percent, in turn causing the amount of transactions to increase by 11 percent. However, in the fourth quarter, the IPAI fell by 0.4 percent. Over the year, within cities, residential prices increased by 0.7 percent and agricultural land prices rose by 2.9 percent. However, the prices of land within the commercial sector fell by 17.4 percent.
In Casablanca, residential prices fell by 0.4 percent and land prices fell by 3.2 percent. There was an increase in prices of commercial assets by 6.2 percent, and overall, sales grew by 7.4 percent.
In Tangier, prices increased by 0.8 percent for residential real estate, 0.9 percent for agricultural land, and 3.4 percent for commercial land use. Attributed to an increase in apartment transactions, sales increased by 8.5 percent.
In Marrakech, prices increased by 1.1 percent for residential assets and declined by 0.5 and 2.0 percent, respectively, for agricultural land and commercial land. Correlating with an increase in land sales, transactions in the region increased by 19 percent over 2018.
