While rental profitability is going straight into the wall in Rabat with an expanding residential offer, Casablanca is holding its own, while tourist residential is managing to find a place for itself in the sun. state of play.
Rental yields are dwindling while this year’s Finance Law has added a layer of it: rental income is now subject to income tax (IR) at the rate of the progressive scale, after deduction of 40%. Since 2019, the taxation of the rental was between 10 and 15%, depending on the threshold reached by the accumulation of rental income.
Beyond the application of this new rule which would have made some landlords offering their properties for rent cautious, it is clear that this activity is stagnating. “It is above all the fact of certain people who are waiting for a good opportunity to acquire a property, or whose place of residence is different from their place of work”, explains a real estate agent in Casablanca, who notes the random nature of the activity. rental. Yassine Meniari, general manager of the real estate agency Aykana, assures that rental yields are down in Rabat, reaching 3% on average for homes and between 5 to 7% for office floors and shops.
No more than 4% in Rabat
According to him, “over the past six years, the real estate market in Rabat has seen more offers with the appearance of new districts such as the Orangeraie, or new projects in the Ocean district”. Rents are therefore pulled downwards, all the more so for old programs, shunned in favor of competition.
For example, the Prestigia apartments in Hay Riad are offered for rent at around 11,000 DH, whereas they were going for 17,000 DH not so long ago. Mid-range apartments in Agdal or Harhoura are rented for 8,000 DH. With a cost price of 2.5 MDH, the rate of return does not exceed 4%. And the more expensive the property, the lower its rental rate of return. “While a 700,000DH studio can bring in up to 5%, a 10 million dirham villa only generates 3%,” summarizes Meniari.
Stagnation in Casablanca
In Casablanca, the situation is different. Due to its dynamism, the white city does not know the crisis. Rents are stable and yields follow. Leasing is still on the rise, perhaps more so than buying, according to the industry experts we surveyed. The real estate agents contacted report average prices of around 7,000 DH in the 2 Mars district for a 2 bedroom, living room, 5,500 DH in Burgundy, 8,000 DH in Maârif and up to 10,000 DH in the very upmarket Racine and Gauthier. Rates that obviously depend on the consistency of the property, its condition, the finish that is put on it, its orientation… But, in any case, rental yields do not fall below 5% in the economic capital. and rise to 7% in outlying districts.
In tourist cities, such as Marrakech, Agadir or Tangier, it’s even better. Rental yields are much better there. In question, the high rental prices offered and which increase as the summer season approaches. “Despite a full rental of only three months during the summer period, the end of year holidays and the few religious holidays, the rental investment achieves a return of 7% and can even climb to 10%”, estimates a real estate agent . Like what, all cities are not housed in the same boat…
The law does not serve the interests of donors
The real estate rental market has great potential, in the eyes of real estate agents. Just look at the number of properties that are vacant. For their part, some landlords remain reluctant to put their property in the hands of tenants. In addition to the change in taxation, the law on residential and commercial leases is deemed not to protect the rights of the lessor. “The recovery of the property
in case of need is as difficult as the collection of unpaid rents”, underlines the CEO of Aykana. And although the right of termination is recorded in the regulations by the lessor, rare are the times when a tenant is evicted because of the breach of his obligations to pay the rent. That’s not to mention the deplorable state in which the owners recover their property!