Real estate central to national economy — PM

AMMAN — Prime Minister Omar Razzaz on Thursday emphasised the importance of the housing, real estate and construction sector as a vital engine to the national economy.

Razzaz, during a meeting with representatives from the housing, real estate and construction sector, highlighted the government's recent decision to stimulate the real estate and housing market, noting that trade volume in the sector, during the last two weeks increased by 93 per cent, in comparison with the same period in 2018.

Referring to the amendments made to the sector’s regulations, Razzaz said that the real estate and housing sector has received the “most attention”, with 12 out of 16 amendments to the Real Estate Ownership Law have been made by his government, noting that the government is awaiting feedback from sector representatives on legislation.

He added that the government is working towards building codes that benefit newly established families, highlighting the Housing and Urban Development Corporation projects on the state-owned lands.

He also said that stakeholders should consider the actual demand, noting that recently the size of apartments has increased, while citizens' demand moves towards small apartments, expressing the government's interest in marketing.  

Last month, the government announced a slew of decisions to meet the sector’s long-sought demands, the first of which is to reduce registration fees and ownership transfers of apartments and land by 50 per cent until the end of 2019. The government also granted a fee exemption on 150-square-metre apartments.

The representatives said they valued the government's recent measures and decisions made to rejuvenate these vital sectors, highlighting the positive impact of such measures on investments in these fields. 

They also reviewed the major challenges facing the sector, notably access to finance, labour, the high cost of construction materials and proposed a number of solutions including launching a real estate development fund to support the purchasing of apartments, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Besides reconsidering the building code, demands have also been made to allow the construction of studios near universities and hospitals to encourage medical tourism.

Talks also went over foreign labour in this sector, President of the Jordan Housing Developers Association (JHDA) Zuhair Omari said, adding that discussions also touched upon new regulations to establish residential districts for low income families and youth.

Mahmoud Saudi, an investor in the field, underlined the Kingdom’s need for housing units, noting that foreign investors’ purchases of Jordan’s apartments annually reach some 6,000 to 7,000 units, which is more than Jordanian purchases abroad.