Developers lobbying to keep government housing incentives

AMMAN – Homebuilders are lobbying to convince decision makers to widen and permanently fix the incentives given to buyers, Jordan Housing Developers Association (JHDA) President Fawaz  Hassan said Wednesday.

In July of this year, the government exempted would-be home owners from registration fees for the first 150 square metres (sq.m.) of apartments sized 180sq.m. or less. The decision of exemption expires at the end of this year. 

Hassan told The Jordan Times that developers would exert "all efforts possible" and use their contact channels with the government to convince decision makers to keep the incentives permanently and to extend the exemptions to the first 150sq.m. of apartments sized up to 200sq.m.

"We will further lobby to achieve this because all Jordanians should have the right to benefit from government incentives," he said. 

"It makes no sense in terms of equality between all Jordanians that people who have already bought residential units benefited from the incentives, while future buyers are deprived of such a privilege," Hassan added. 

The JHDA president said that a series of "constructive" meetings have been held between housing developers and government officials to discuss the issue. 

The developer noted the exemption decision has boosted the performance of the real estate sector in the past four months.

According to official figures from the Department of Land and Survey (DLS), trading in the property market in the first nine months of the year reached JD5.46 billion.  

The number of residential apartments sold between January and September of this year was 30,621, according to the DLS report, which showed that home sales were 13 per cent higher compared to the same period last year. 

Housing developers expect trading in the property market this year to be close to JD7 billion. 

In 2014, real estate trading registered a record of JD7.76 billion, 22 per cent higher than the amount recorded in 2013 (JD6.34 billion).