Muscat – With an aim to stimulate the real estate sector, H E Dr Khalfan Said Mubarak al Shueili, Minister of Housing and Urban Planning, issued a ministerial decision, amending the licensing fees for various activities linked to the real estate.

The latest decision aims to encourage engagement of citizens in the sector by reducing the fees for six services related to the sector by 50 per cent, the ministry said.

The charge for a real estate brokerage registration card has been brought down from RO500 to RO200 in the Muscat governorate, and from RO300 to RO150 for the rest of the country. Similarly, the fees for the renewal of this card was reduced from RO200 to RO100 in Muscat, and RO100 to RO50 in the other governorates. The replacement of the card would also cost less, with the fees brought down from RO100 to RO50 in Muscat, and RO50 to RO25 in the rest of the country.

One-time real estate brokerage card would henceforth cost RO25 instead of RO50 in Muscat, and RO15 instead of RO25 in other governorates, while the renewal of this card would cost RO15 instead of RO25 in Muscat, and RO10 instead of RO15 in the rest of the country.

For any replacement of this card, one would have to pay RO10 instead of RO25 in Muscat, and RO10 instead of RO15 for other governorates.

The real estate brokerage system aims to create an integrated database of the real estate companies in the country. This includes the verification of the performance of companies in terms of services, rates of commission, and the volume of investments.

In addition to monitoring performance of the real estate companies and their services, the system has been put in place to ensure transparency in transactions and to combat the phenomenon of random and part-time brokers.

The system also aims to classify real estate companies according to a professional framework, creating an encouraging environment for real estate development, in addition to providing actual prices of real estate for various purposes.