2008-12-26
The Moroccan authorities are confident that the real estate sector in the country can withstand the global crisis
The Moroccan authorities have announced that the country is spared from the turbulence of the global housing crisis. Ahmed Taoufik HJIR, the Minister of Housing, Urban and Regional Planning, said Tuesday 23 December that the sector in Morocco is not related to global, adding: "We have a strong demand at home Contrary to Europe. The housing deficit is estimated at five million units. Every year, 123 000 new families arriving on the market. It must meet the annual demand and reduce the deficit. "" The industry is doing very well and not accusing any backlash to what is happening abroad, should Sefrioui Anas, president of the Addoha stop.
Mr. Sefrioui has excluded the possibility that a phenomenon similar to that of sub-prime occurs in Morocco, because bank loans are granted based on the ability of borrowers to repay and the demand far exceeds supply .
"In recent years, prices have climbed sharply to the point where they no longer represent the value of the property. With the global economic crisis, I hope the normalization of prices."
Although the Ministry of Housing shows his optimism, he explained that measures are needed to avoid problems. Mr. HJIR, we must carry out reforms in the sector for the planning, local governance, the multiplicity of actors. He does not deny the existence of cyclical slowdown, as rising prices for raw materials and services companies, the mismatch between supply and demand and the slowdown in acquisitions, particularly in the upper segment standing, but it also explains that the banking sector offers many opportunities for funding.
Estate agents have their fears, for several months that a decline in activity was found.
"Only the developers may be the source of their own recession in maintaining high price levels and offering a bid to inadequate demand," said Driss El Fina, a researcher in economics.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Morocco Abdellatif Jouahri, said that all real estate assets weighs 14 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), when it is 70 percent in Britain and 100 percent in the U.S. .
"To avoid the formation of a bubble in real estate," he adds, "the central bank to require banks to implement a code of conduct that excludes funding of risky real estate. The banks send to the central bank monthly reporting on key sector groups. "
"Most of the Moroccan real estate sector is invested in social housing and the average standard, which benefits from the intervention of a state guarantee fund," he says
This content was produced under request Magharebia.com. 26/12/08

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