‘No decision yet on extending deadline for homebuyer incentives’

AMMAN — No decision has been taken yet on whether to extend a deadline for incentives granted to first-time homebuyers that ends by November 30, Minister of Finance Omar Malhas said on Sunday.

"This is still being discussed by the concerned authorities and there is no final decision yet," the minister told The Jordan Times.

A decision in this regard is expected soon, and it will be announced by the Cabinet, Malhas said.

Last December, the government extended incentives granted to first-time homebuyers until November 30, 2016.

Under the decision, would-be homeowners will be exempted from registration fees for the first 150 square metres (sq.m.) of apartments sized 180sq.m. or less.

Before July of this year, the exemption incentives applied only to buyers of apartments sized 150sq.m. or less, and the first 120sq.m. were exempted from fees.

Figures by the Department of Land and Survey (DLS) showed that some 33,000 apartments were sold in the first 10 months of 2016 compared to 34,600 apartments during the same period of last year.

Of the total, around 12,600 apartments were sized between 120 and 150 sq.m., the figures by the department showed.

Total real estate trading volume dropped at the end of September by 3 per cent to JD5.278 billion from JD5.464 billion at the end of the same period last year, according to DLS data.

The department’s revenues went down by 12 per cent, to JD248 million from JD281 million; the figure recorded at the end of the same period of 2015.