Morocco announced efforts to address spike in property prices
A steep rise in housing prices has made the government announce efforts to arrest soaring prices, reports Magharebia.com
Finance Minister Salaheddine Mezouar on May 27th said that he aims to combat housing speculation and slow the rise in price per square meter. The real estate boom has led to a number of large and upmarket developments springing up across Morocco. The housing ministry reports that between 2003 and 2007, prices per square meter increases the most 358% in Agadir and 234% in Rabat. The price increase in other places is Marrakesh by 92%, 45% in Rabat, 43% in Casablanca and 35% in Tangiers.
Twelve measures are designed by the government to tackle an enormous rise in housing and land prices which includes tax incentives, vacant lands taxation and new taxes on the vacant homes. Youssef Benmansour, vice-chairman of the National Federation of Property Developers has said that the goodwill measures by the government are encouraging for the Moroccan real estate.
But the Telegraph recently reported that houses in Morocco are much cheaper than those in neighboring Mediterranean nations. Property in Spain comparatively could cost about three times as much as a residence in Morocco. The newspaper noted that property investors could also benefit from capital appreciation, as the housing market there is in boom.
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