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 The real estate boom in Morocco that surprised even shocked many of us “Moroccans living abroad” is seen by many international firms dealing in real estate as a positive sign for a future shopping spree of the Europeans in the Moroccan market, they even compare it to the nineties boom in East Europe.
If you ask any Moroccan in the US or Europe, he/she will tell you that price has gone way too highead of urbanism in Morocco has been a phenomenon, of course not to be compared with Dubai, but it is a revolution in the living standards of the average Moroccan with positive and negative consequences. and only a few can afford to sustain the America /European economic recession and save enough to buy a second home in Morocco. Well, the price rose up by a lot in a few years, the spread of the availability of credit and the reasonable prices of real estate in Morocco “a few years ago” attracted many 1st time buyers and multi units owners alike, because the access to ownership has finally been granted to almost all Moroccans with all kinds of options to choose from :low-income property ownership or assakan al iktissadi, I rate it a genius idea, we ought to give credit to the Moroccan government for such plan, now if we compare the government policy in Morocco toward the unprivileged layers of society, I find it to be much more adequate and fair in comparison, for example, with the American model. In the USA the market sets the price of real estate, the poor is left out in the cold, yes some cities impose 5 % of units to be sold or rented at a fair price, rather than inflated or speculative price, but it never invests in the housing security of its citizens. This topic allows me to elaborate on the financial melt down of the western markets. Consider the fact that everything in the American market was set by the Wall Street bankers and CEOs they had no supervision from the government or rules to follow when they go after profit. This created a greedy and money hungry tycoons and their followers, the problem with this is that the rules and regulations were always dismissed and considered as obstacle to prosperity. It is true that too many laws make a market less attractive to investors but on the other hand when you allow the market to make its own rules, the checks and balances become a hazy zone where everything is left to personal interpretations.
The real estate goes hand in hand with the banking system because it is still the largest purchase a person makes in his / her life and the bank is their only source of financing this major purchase but when this lending itself becomes commodity and traded among the banks with huge profits, it makes sense that when the real estate prices go low and the variable rates of the mortgages shoot up, the defaulted customers multiply and the entire, greedy, shady and un-regulated or poorly regulated market collapses on itself like a black hole in the cosmos.
Back to the Moroccan success, the banks there did not invest in the American market by more than 4%, this conservative move yet wise in circumstances like this exempted Morocco from this international crisis.
With this unfolding mess, the Europeans are looking more and more to Morocco to invest in real estate because it represents a stable, cheap, close and less adventurous investment; this is good news for the local economy but in long run, Moroccans will not be able to afford their own homes, people already started looking at quick profits by selling their properties to Europeans as is the case in Marrakesh and its Riads lost to greed (this is a major topic I hope to address soon)
Government intervention is sometimes good, your banker may not agree with me, but your future is more secure with the government than any bank, so I applaud the Moroccan model in creating fair real estate market. $ 20,000 apartments as well as $ 500,000 apartments. We are used to criticize Morocco for many shortcomings but sometimes it is good to praise good work.
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