Morocco government plans to help priced out first time buyers
The Moroccan government has announced new plans aimed at correcting discrepancies in the domestic market which has been slowly pricing first-time buyers out of the game for the last few years.
The plans announced by Finance Minister Salaheddine Mezouar have 12 measures to combat housing speculation and slowdown the increasing land prices. The official Government figures show that in the last 4 years, prices per square meter increased by 92% in Marrakesh, 45% in Rabat, 43% in Casablanca and 35% in Tangiers. Prices for plots of land have increased even more, by as much as 358% in Agadir and 234% in Rabat. Abderrahmane Chorfi, General Director of Town Planning at the Housing Ministry has pointed out the increased availability of bank credit as mortgage lending has also risen from 35.2 billion dirhams in 2002 to more than 100 billion dirhams in 2007.
Prices have reached unaffordable levels and many first time buyers and young Moroccan couples cannot manage to buy a flat these days, with prices starting from 7,000 dirhams per square meter. The government measures include a package of tax incentives. Taxing vacant lots, new taxes on the estimated 800,000 vacant homes and more public-private partnerships aimed at leveling the prices and meeting demand for affordable housing are introduced. The insufficient private banks participation is also being sorted out.
Youssef Benmansour, vice-chairman of the National Federation of Property Developers has commented that ‘these are goodwill measures’. The Moroccan government has taken the first step in reducing the housing gap at the lower income end of the affordability spectrum as flexible housing industry is important component to capital advancement in low income economies.
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