Oman · Analysis · National Centre for Statistics and Information

Oman statistics centre: property sales contracts rise 14.5% to RO 952.1 million in January to August 2026 as total trading falls 6.4%

Official figures in the September 2026 Monthly Statistical Bulletin of Oman's National Centre for Statistics and Information, drawn from Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning data, show that sales contracts worth RO 952.1 million were traded in the first eight months of 2026, against RO 831.4 million a year earlier. Total real estate trading, which also counts mortgages and barter contracts, was RO 1,988.5 million, 6.4% lower, because the value of mortgage contracts fell 20%.

Al Mithaq news desk · Published 18 October 2026 · Updated 18 October 2026 · Source: National Centre for Statistics and Information (Oman)

Rooftops of family houses and low-rise homes in the Al Khuwair neighbourhood of Muscat, Oman. Picture: Andrew Moore, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

RO 952.1Msales contracts, January to August 2026 (+14.5%)

RO 1,988.5Mtotal real estate trading, same period (-6.4%)

-20.0%value of mortgage contracts, to RO 1,027.8M

What the figures show

Table 29 of the National Centre for Statistics and Information's Monthly Statistical Bulletin for September 2026 covers real estate activity in Oman to the end of August, using Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning data. From January to August 2026, the traded value of sales contracts was RO 952.1 million, up 14.5% from RO 831.4 million in the same months of 2025. The number of sales contracts was 44,609, up 1.5% from 43,971. For comparison, sales contracts for the whole of 2025 were worth RO 1,270.3 million. Oman Daily reported the same figures on 2 October 2026.

Why the total fell

The total traded value adds sales, mortgage and barter contracts. It reached RO 1,988.5 million in the eight months, down 6.4% from RO 2,124.2 million. The fall came from mortgages: their traded value dropped 20.0% to RO 1,027.8 million from RO 1,285.3 million, even though the number of mortgage contracts rose 21.8% to 17,559. Barter contracts were small, RO 8.6 million in 442 contracts. Up to the end of July, total trading had been 7.7% higher than a year earlier, according to Al Roya on 1 September citing the statistics centre, so, by our calculation, August 2025 was a much bigger month than August 2026, at about RO 531 million against RO 272.7 million.

August alone

In August 2026, total real estate trading was RO 272.7 million, against RO 281.7 million in July and RO 258.7 million in June. Sales contracts were worth RO 108.9 million, down from RO 155.2 million in July, while mortgage contracts rose to RO 163.4 million from RO 124.2 million. There were 4,890 sales contracts in the month. The Ministry issued 12,112 property titles in August, 80 of them to GCC citizens. From January to August, titles issued fell 14.2% to 131,944, and titles issued to GCC citizens fell 11.0% to 723.

Why it mattersOur view for a Kuwaiti buyer: read the right line. The headline total fell 6.4%, but most of that total is mortgages, which are loans secured on property, not purchases. The line that measures buying is sales contracts, and it rose 14.5% in value while the number of contracts rose only 1.5%. By our own calculation, the average sale contract was about RO 21,300 in the first eight months of 2026, against about RO 18,900 a year earlier, roughly 13% more. That fits the price index the statistics centre published for the second quarter, which rose 22.7% on a year earlier, led by residential land. Three cautions. These are national totals for all property types across the Sultanate, so they do not price any single project. Monthly figures move a lot: August sales were RO 108.9 million against RO 155.2 million in July. And GCC citizens are a small slice: 723 property titles were issued to them in eight months, 11% fewer than a year earlier. For a Kuwaiti family, the choice in Oman still comes down to the project, the payment plan and whether it opens residency.

What Al Mithaq adds

Our Oman residency guide shows, in two taps, which residency your budget opens: a two-year residency after paying 30%, or the Golden Residency from RO 200,000. It lists the Oman projects we offer that qualify. Tell our team your budget and we come back from Kuwait with the homes that fit, and their prices.

Sources

Key facts

Release: NCSI Monthly Statistical Bulletin, September 2026, table 29 (data: Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning)
Period: January to August 2026, compared with January to August 2025
Sales contracts: RO 952.1 million (+14.5%); 44,609 contracts (+1.5%)
Mortgage contracts: RO 1,027.8 million (-20.0%); 17,559 contracts (+21.8%)
Total trading: RO 1,988.5 million (-6.4%), including RO 8.6 million of barter contracts
August 2026: Total RO 272.7 million; sales RO 108.9 million; 4,890 sales contracts
Titles issued: 131,944 (-14.2%); 723 to GCC citizens (-11.0%)
Average sale contract: About RO 21,300, against about RO 18,900 a year earlier (our calculation)