The real estate market in Casablanca, Morocco, remained stable throughout 2019 with the city seeing the completion of major projects and the announcement of new ones, according to JLL, a leading expert in the real estate and hospitality services markets.
While most sectors faced challenges in the second half of 2019, the introduction of REITs and the approval of new real estate investment schemes are expected to boost the real estate sector, creating significant portfolios in Morocco and attracting foreign investors in the coming years, stated JLL in its 2019 Year in Review report.
“Morocco is increasingly becoming a strategic target for international investors seeking to diversify real estate investment opportunities,” remarked Walid Riahi, the senior analyst research and valuation advisory at JLL Morocco.
"The latest investment schemes are paving the way for a new investment vehicle that has proven to be very attractive for those looking to explore other markets," he stated.
According to Riahi, the Office market in Casablanca remained soft for the second half of the year due to the limited supply of quality buildings, but rents remained stable with a slight increase in vacancies.
New quality office supply is forecast to increase competition between landlords to retain tenants, he said.
The introduction of REITs is expected to stimulate capital market activity for the coming years, he added.
With the completion of two new shopping centres in the city outskirts, the retail sector remained stable in 2019. Although vacancies did decline in the market, the growth of online shopping and the strong competition from street retail are causing developers to rethink their business model and place more focus on enriching customer experiences with more space allocated to dining and entertainment.
On the hotel sector, Riahi said Casablanca continued to witness a record fall in occupancies with -700bp year-on-year.
"This was due to the rise of hotel capacity with additional 700 keys for the market in 2019, creating a more competitive environment. Casablanca will continue to expand this market with more than 20 hotels in the pipeline for the next few years," he added.
JLL said average industrial rents remained stable last year with rents expected to decrease over the coming years with major projects causing competitive rates.
The Moroccan government had committed to providing functional infrastructure and service to the land to enhance the sustainable industrial development which is expected to attract more investments in this sector.
The corporate tax rate has also been reduced, along with the creation of a new fund of over MAD6 billion ($621 million) over the next three years, intended to support small and medium business.-TradeArabia News Service
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