Residential land prices in the Omani capital Muscat rose by 43.6% year-on-year in the first quarter, data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information showed. The market has continued to climb during the US-Iran war, helped by the fact that Oman’s ports lie outside the Strait of Hormuz, meaning its economy has been relatively insulated from the conflict. Across the country as a whole, residential prices were up 17.6% compared to a year earlier.
The Saudi property market has held up too, buoyed by domestic demand. Home prices in the kingdom rose during the opening three months of the year, although the number of transactions fell by half due to affordability issues and uncertainty caused by the war. Even so, real estate consultancy Knight Frank called the kingdom’s housing fundamentals “strong enough to transcend the conflict.”