Evidence
Data and methodology
Every metric on this site traces back to a named dataset. This page lists them, explains what we do to each, and sets out the rules we will not break.
| Dataset | Coverage | Records | Notes and limitations | Downloaded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Property Transactions 2026 (Q1, Q2) Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, via Oman Open Data Portal | Jan to Jun 2026, all governorates | 77,901 | Procedure type, land use, property type, governorate, wilayat, village, date. No price or area. Excludes ordinary sale registrations. | 25 Sep 2026 |
| Sale contract registrations through real estate brokerage offices, Muscat 2025 Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, via Oman Open Data Portal | Jan to Sep 2025, Muscat | 9,366 | Wilayat, date, land use, property type. No price or area. Title says 2025 but data ends in September. | 25 Sep 2026 |
| Real Estate Transaction Procedures 2025 (quarterly aggregates) Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, via Oman Open Data Portal | Q1 to Q3 2025, all governorates | ~620 rows per quarter (aggregated) | Summary counts, not records. The published Q1 and Q2 2025 files contain identical figures, so it is unclear which quarter they describe: we use the file labelled Q1 and treat Q2 2025 as not available. Coverage differs from the 2026 record files for some procedures (for example gifts), so year-on-year comparisons are rated medium confidence. | 25 Sep 2026 |
| Sales and Purchase Data (land), October 2024 Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, via Oman Open Data Portal | October 2024, all governorates | 6,034 | Transaction value (93% filled), no plot size. Contains buyer birth dates and gender: we never publish record-level data from it, only aggregates. | 25 Sep 2026 |
| Construction Permits 2025 Muscat Municipality, via Oman Open Data Portal | 2025, Muscat | 4,214 | Issue date, floors, locality, block. Building area filled for only 6% of records. | 25 Sep 2026 |
Processing
- Files are downloaded through the Oman Open Data Portal API and kept unchanged as the raw record.
- Arabic governorate, wilayat and village names are normalised through a mapping table (for example, “مسقط” and “محافظة مسقط” are both Muscat). The raw name is always kept.
- Procedure types are classified. “Mortgage registrations” counts the procedure تسجيل عقد رهن (registration of a mortgage contract). “Strata approvals” counts اعتماد تقسيم المباني الى شقق وطبقات (approval to divide buildings into apartments and floors).
- Counts are aggregated by quarter, wilayat, property type and area. Medians are used for values, never averages alone.
- Every figure is published with its period, record count and a confidence level.
Confidence levels
- High: official records, large counts, reliable geography and property type.
- Medium: official records with a material limitation, such as a single month or missing areas.
- Low: fewer than 30 observations, estimated values, or asking-price data.
Rules we keep
- An asking price is never shown as a sale price. An advertised rent is never shown as a contracted rent.
- Official, asking and macro data are never combined into one figure without an explained method.
- A yield is only shown with at least 10 comparable observations on both the sale and rent sides, and is labelled “Estimated”.
- Where data does not exist we say “Not available from official data”, not an estimate.
- Outliers are flagged, never deleted.
- No personal data from official files is published. Aggregates only.
Update schedule
The Ministry published Q1 and Q2 2026 files on 25 August 2026. We check the portal for new releases and aim to publish a Market Pulse soon after each one. Corrections are listed in the corrections log.
Data requests
We are requesting from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning sale registrations with transaction values and plot areas, and from Muscat Municipality lease contract data with rent values. If either becomes available, sale values, rents and yields will move from “not available” to official figures.