AMMAN — The latest figures from the
Department of Land and Survey (DLS) show that land purchased by companies operating in
Jordan has seen an 84.5 percent increase compared to 2019’s sales, indicating a
substantial growth in this sector. The
data was collected from the first 11 months of 2019 and 2021, which
specifically tracked land bought by companies, and not by individuals.
اضافة اعلان
The real estate sector has generally witnessed
some encouraging growth in 2021. The Jordan News Agency, Petra reported that
Jordan’s real estate trade volume from the first eight months of this year has
increased by 11 percent, reaching JD308.8 billion, compared to the same period of
2019. However, from January to August of this year, the DLS's revenues stood at
approximately JD126 million, which represents a 12 percent decrease compared to
2019.
During the first eight months of 2021, reports
from the DLS also show a 33 percent increase in apartment sales, a 54 percent
increase in land sales, and a 49 percent rise in total real estate sales
recorded in the Kingdom.
DLS media spokesperson, Talal Zaben, told
Jordan News that the DLS department’s
latest reports on land sales from companies have not made any comparisons
between the years 2021 and 2020, largely because it would be an unfair
comparison.
“During the first four months of 2020, the
country went through unprecedented national lockdowns, accompanied by restricted
movement and airport closures during the summer. If we were to estimate the
increase from last year to this year, it would possibly be 200 percent or more.
That’s not a fair comparison. This is why we selected 2019’s data for
comparison instead,” he said.
The total number of lots of land acquired by
companies since the beginning of the year reached 4,312 lots, compared to 2,337
lots sold in 2019. Zaben explained that most of the companies that are
purchasing these lands are “local companies, and the sellers are generally
individual citizens, who are not necessarily representing any corporations
during the transaction.”
Companies investing in these lots of land may
have different investment goals, said Zaben. “Whenever a company buys a lot of
land, it has to state its intent for the purchase of the specific land, which
can have a diverse array of purposes, from manufacturing to housing.”
Zaben explained that most of the sales hike currently
occurring in the real estate sector are a consequence of recent legislative
reforms introduced by the government. Most notable are the economic incentives that
provide full exemptions on registration fees for the first 150 sq.m. purchased.
Housing companies also currently enjoy a 50 percent decrease in registration
fees compared to previous years.
In addition to these incentives, a key measure
that has most likely incentivized this prosperity in the real estate sector is
a policy introduced by the government nearly two years ago, said Zaben. “We noticed that many of the land deeds were still
registered under the name of deceased landowners, which prevented sales
activity and created stagnation in the market.”
Under the amended regulations, the deeds can be transferred to the
rightful inheritors free of registration fees, he said, urging people to make
the most of these incentives, which will expire at the end of December 2021.
Kayed Al-Adwan, the head
of Kayed Real Estate Office, told
Jordan
News that while some desirable activity is currently present in the land
market, not everyone is a beneficiary. “Jordanians with average income levels do
not have the same financial capacity as companies,” especially if a hike in
prices accompanies the sales activity.
Some red tape and
challenges, however, remain in the real estate sector, according to Adwan,
namely in relation to construction permits that are issued by the Municipality
of
Greater Amman and
require lengthy processes and time, especially for non-Jordanians.
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