“Foreign demand, particularly French, is doing well, with tourism breaking records this year and property prices much lower than in France”rejoices Robinson Choual, director of the Vaneau agency in Marrakech.
This group specializing in high-end real estate set up in Morocco in the first half of 2023 to meet the demand of its customers. According to Moroccan government figuresinvestments in real estate by foreigners increased in the country by 14.5% in 2021, after several years of decline.
However, as in France, a slowdown in the real estate market is to be expected in a context where prices remain high while the debt capacity of future buyers is falling, due to the rise in credit rates, currently close to 5%. According to the Moroccan real estate platform Agenz.ma, it is necessary to count on average 10,394 dirhams (about 980 euros) per square meter for an apartment in Casablanca, the economic capital of the country, where the market is tight, and 16,116 dirhams (1,520 euros) for a house.
In Rabat, the administrative capital, the square meter averages 13,800 dirhams (1,302 euros) for an apartment, 13,288 dirhams (1,253 euros) for a house. In Marrakech, a tourist hotspot, and Essaouira, a neighboring fortified town on the Atlantic Ocean, it takes 7,508 dirhams (692 euros) per square meter for an apartment and 10,210 dirhams (963 euros) for a house. It is, respectively, about 6,500 dirhams and 13,500 dirhams in Tangier, 5,000 dirhams and 7,700 dirhams in Fez, 7,500 dirhams and 12,000 dirhams in Agadir, further south.
Retransfer Guarantee
In Morocco, there are exceptional properties for 1 million euros. The Vaneau agency thus offers for sale, in Marrakech, a 700 square meter villa with a swimming pool and five suites for 937,000 euros. With a budget of around 500,000 euros, you can buy a very nice house of 300 square meters with a swimming pool in this city.
In practice ? For a French property buyer, the widespread use of French in Morocco facilitates the operation. In addition, the cadastre (the “land conservation”), which makes it possible to verify the titles of ownership, is well in place. But as it is not a country of the European Union, the procedures for buying are more complex.
Before buying, some precautions are therefore necessary. In particular, it is necessary to think, from the outset, of the resale of the property. Because in order to be able to repatriate the money from this resale in the long term, it will be necessary to benefit from a “retransfer guarantee”. To do this, the buyer must open a bank account allowing them to pay for their property in foreign currency or in convertible dirhams. Otherwise, “the sum can only be transferred abroad up to 25% per year for four years”explains Marrakech Realty, a site specializing in the purchase of real estate in Morocco.
You have 40.7% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.