AlOmari calls for a reduction in sales tax on basic building materials
The former president of the Housing Investors Association in Jordan, Eng. Zuhair Al-Omari, called for canceling the sales tax on basic building materials such as cement, iron and aluminum, or reducing it by half in order to limit the impact of the high price hike on the housing sector and the citizens of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
He recalled the precedent that took place in 2008, when the sales tax on iron was reduced from 16 percent to eight percent.
Al-Omari expressed his fears of the consequences of raising the prices of oil derivatives, which are scheduled to be raised next month, as it will constitute an additional burden on the sector, and will raise the prices of all local products related to transportation, such as aggregates, crushers and stones.
Al-Omari pointed out that cement prices are constantly rising, and the prices of imported materials such as aluminum and timber have gone up “crazy,” in addition to the rise in iron prices, whose prices cannot be expected because it is subject to the stock exchange.
He said that the continuation of the Russian war on Ukraine and its impact on the continued rise in iron prices will have other repercussions and effects on apartment prices.
Al-Omari hopes that the increase in apartment prices will not exceed ten percent, if it occurs, because “any cost increases will affect the citizens’ purchasing power, which will negatively affect the sector and lead to its decline.”
He stressed the need to keep prices and costs low so that apartments and real estate remain within reach and within the purchasing power of the citizen.
With regard to apartments with an area of more than 150 square meters, Al-Omari explained that canceling the exemption did not significantly affect their prices, as 150 square meters were exempted from them, and that the registration fee for the extra space increased for the buyer “half a percent” and became 3 percent instead of 2.5 percent, he said. It has not changed from what it was before and the situation is still good.
