Should I buy an apartment in Casablanca now?

Get all the data you need about the real estate market in Casablanca

Thinking of buying real estate in Casablanca?

Acquiring property in a different country is a complex task. Don't fall into common traps – grab our guide and make better decisions.

Download Now

Is Casablanca’s apartment market recovering now?

Casablanca’s apartment market is still weak today, even though the broader property market has started moving again.

The newest Bank Al-Maghrib and ANCFCC data make that distinction important. Casablanca recorded a brutal first quarter: property prices fell 2.7% from the previous quarter and transactions dropped 37.8%. Residential prices fell 3%, while apartment transactions were down 36.9%.

The following quarter looked better at first glance. Total Casablanca property transactions increased 4.4%. Across Morocco, transactions jumped 11% and prices rose 0.7%. Yet Casablanca apartments did not join that rebound: apartment transactions in the city fell another 3.1%.

That changes the reading of the market. Offices and land helped Casablanca’s headline numbers recover, with office transactions up 48.7% and land transactions up 41.4%, while apartments remained soft.

There is also a useful aggregate hidden in the quarterly figures. After a 37.8% drop followed by a 4.4% rebound, total Casablanca transactions were still roughly 35% below their level at the end of last year. The second-quarter improvement recovered only a small part of the previous collapse.

For someone buying an apartment now, that is actually a useful setup. Sellers can no longer point to a booming residential market, and apartment buyers still have room to negotiate.

Are Casablanca apartment prices expensive today?

Casablanca apartments are expensive in the prime districts, but current citywide prices are nowhere near uniform enough for a simple “Casablanca is expensive” conclusion.

Fresh listing data from Esti.ma, based on 4,694 active apartments, put the median asking price at 13,771 MAD per m² and the median apartment budget at about 1.6 million MAD. Another current Casablanca dataset from PUT.ma comes remarkably close at roughly 13,474 MAD per m² for apartments.

Once we move neighborhood by neighborhood, the spread becomes enormous. Casablanca Marina is currently above 33,000 MAD per m². Ain Diab is close to 24,000, Casablanca Finance City around 23,600 and Racine around 18,400. At the other end of the market, Oulfa, Ain Sebaa and several eastern districts can fall close to or below 10,000 MAD per m².

A buyer at 24,000 MAD per m² in CFC is paying roughly 74% above the current citywide median. Marina can cost well over twice the Casablanca median.

That premium can be justified by the right building or location. What we would avoid is paying it automatically because the neighborhood has a prestigious name.

Don't buy the wrong property, in the wrong area of Casablanca

Buying real estate is a significant investment. Don't rely solely on your intuition. Gather the right information to make the best decision.

Get the data

Have Casablanca apartment prices already risen too much?

Casablanca apartment prices have not risen enough lately for us to worry about buying after a citywide speculative boom.

Official price data tell a much calmer story. Casablanca property prices increased only 0.9% over the whole of 2025, according to the Bank Al-Maghrib and ANCFCC index. Then came the 2.7% quarterly decline at the beginning of this year.

Morocco’s wider residential market was similarly subdued before the latest rebound. Residential prices increased just 0.8% through 2025, almost matching consumer inflation. In real terms, homeowners therefore saw little appreciation.

Current asking prices can still look high because good Casablanca neighborhoods have always commanded large premiums. That should not be confused with rapid recent appreciation.

We would worry more about buying one apartment 15% above comparable units on the same street than about Casablanca suddenly being at the top of a huge property cycle.

Can you still negotiate hard on a Casablanca apartment?

Yes. Casablanca apartment buyers can still negotiate today, especially on ordinary resale properties with plenty of substitutes.

The latest transaction numbers give buyers a stronger argument than listing prices alone suggest. As seen above, Casablanca apartment transactions fell again in the latest official quarter even while the overall property market recovered.

Online supply is also substantial. Thousands of Casablanca apartments are currently advertised across the major Moroccan platforms, while popular areas such as Maarif, Bourgogne, Oasis, CFC and Oulfa often have dozens or hundreds of competing properties.

Some apartments also stay advertised for months. DarIndex recently estimated an average listing duration around five months for apartments in Maarif. Portal data are imperfect because advertisements can remain online after a deal, but this is still far removed from a market where buyers regularly have to bid immediately.

We would be much less aggressive only when the property is genuinely difficult to replace: a particularly good floor plan, unobstructed view, high floor, parking, unusually good building, large terrace or an exceptional street.

For a standard apartment with several close alternatives, paying the full asking price these days is difficult to justify without a very good reason. And yes, that means walking away sometimes.

Get to know the market before buying a property in Casablanca

Better information leads to better decisions. Get all the data you need before investing a large amount of money.

Get the data

Are mortgage rates low enough to buy an apartment in Casablanca now?

Mortgage rates are reasonable again, but borrowing is currently expensive enough that the purchase price still matters a lot.

Bank Al-Maghrib’s latest lending-rate survey puts the average rate on real-estate loans at about 5.06%, down slightly from 5.13% in the previous quarter. That is higher than the figure we would have used earlier in the year, so buyers should be careful with mortgage examples based on rates in the low-4% range.

Take a 1.6 million MAD apartment, close to Casablanca’s current median asking budget. With a 20% down payment, the mortgage would be 1.28 million MAD.

At 5.06% over 20 years, the monthly principal-and-interest payment comes to roughly 8,500 MAD before borrower insurance and other banking costs. A 25-year term lowers the monthly payment to around 7,500 MAD but substantially increases the amount of interest paid over the life of the loan.

Casablanca’s current median asking rent is around 7,250 MAD per month in Esti.ma’s latest dataset. A heavily financed buyer can therefore easily spend more each month than a renter occupying a broadly comparable part of the market.

Buying can still make sense, but cheap credit is no longer doing much of the work for the buyer.

Is buying an apartment in Casablanca better than renting now?

Buying in Casablanca makes more sense today for someone staying many years; renting still wins easily for someone who may leave after two or three years.

The main reason is the upfront cost of buying. Residential purchases typically involve registration duty, land-registry fees, notary costs and other expenses. A reasonable all-in working range is around 6% to 8% of the property price.

On a 1.6 million MAD apartment, that means roughly 96,000 to 128,000 MAD before considering the down payment itself.

Meanwhile, current Casablanca rental data show a median asking rent close to 7,250 MAD per month. Someone paying that amount spends about 87,000 MAD per year on rent.

Buying starts looking better once those acquisition costs are spread over a long period and part of each mortgage payment is building equity. Over two or three years, transaction costs can wipe out most of the financial advantage unless the apartment appreciates quickly.

We would be comfortable buying a primary residence with a seven-to-ten-year horizon. With a likely stay of three years, we would usually rent.

Buying real estate in Casablanca can be risky

An increasing number of foreign investors are showing interest. However, 90% of them will make mistakes. Avoid the pitfalls with our comprehensive guide.

Download Now

Are Casablanca rental yields actually good right now?

Casablanca rental yields are attractive today, but the sensible number to underwrite is closer to 6%–7% gross than to the eye-catching 9% figures sometimes shown online.

Current datasets disagree quite a lot. Esti.ma calculates a median gross yield around 6.7% from active Casablanca listings. Global Property Guide puts the city average above 8%, with some small apartments approaching 9%. Other neighborhood-level datasets report even higher theoretical yields in places such as Oulfa, Plateau or parts of central Casablanca.

Those differences come partly from methodology. A portal may compare median rents for small furnished apartments with sale prices from much larger units, or combine neighborhoods with very different property types. A theoretical 9% yield can disappear quickly once we compare genuinely similar apartments.

Local property managers provide a more conservative reality check. Aqarrati currently puts Maarif and Gauthier around 5.5%–6.5% gross, premium Anfa and Ain Diab closer to 4%–5%, and more affordable areas such as Sidi Maarouf or Hay Hassani higher.

The recurring pattern is credible even when the exact percentages change: smaller apartments bought at moderate prices usually generate better income than large luxury apartments.

We would be interested at roughly 6% gross on a normal long-term rental and increasingly interested above 7%, provided the apartment, building and tenant market are all sound.

Where should you buy an apartment in Casablanca now?

For most buyers, Maarif, Palmier, Bourgogne, Gauthier, Oasis and Sidi Maarouf currently offer a better balance than chasing either Casablanca’s cheapest districts or its most expensive addresses.

Maarif is probably the easiest example to understand. Current asking prices cluster around 15,000–16,000 MAD per m². The district is central, heavily serviced and has a broad tenant base. Someone can live there, rent to professionals or later resell to owner-occupiers. That flexibility is valuable.

Gauthier is more expensive, usually around 17,000–18,000 MAD per m² in current datasets, but centrality keeps demand deep. Palmier has similar advantages and often sits between Maarif and prime Racine pricing.

Sidi Maarouf gives us a different proposition. Entry prices can fall toward 10,000–12,000 MAD per m² while Casanearshore, Technopark and nearby business activity generate recurring demand from working professionals.

Oasis is more expensive, often around 20,000 MAD per m² in fresh listing data, but it combines residential appeal with improving connectivity and proximity to employment districts. At those prices, the apartment itself needs to be good because the yield is naturally lower.

Cheaper areas such as Oulfa, Belvédère and Roches Noires can produce stronger headline yields. We would still inspect building quality and exact street location very carefully. Saving 30% on the purchase price is not useful if vacancy, poor maintenance or weak resale demand absorbs the difference later.

Don't lose money on your property in Casablanca

100% of people who have lost money there have spent less than 1 hour researching the market. We have reviewed everything there is to know. Grab our guide now.

Download Now

Is Casablanca Finance City worth paying 24,000 MAD per m²?

Casablanca Finance City can be worth the premium for the right apartment, but at roughly 24,000 MAD per m² we would reject a mediocre CFC unit very quickly.

Fresh Esti.ma data put the median CFC asking price around 23,600 MAD per m², versus roughly 13,800 citywide. Current rental listings are around 140 MAD per m² per month.

Those figures imply a simple gross yield around 7% before vacancy, charges, maintenance and tax if the purchase and rental observations are comparable. Other professional estimates put CFC somewhat lower, closer to 6%.

The premium therefore does not automatically destroy the investment case. The problem is how much of the district’s future success is already reflected in the purchase price.

At 24,000 MAD per m², we would want a property with a clear advantage: high floor, open view, strong building management, useful terrace, parking, good sunlight or an unusually efficient layout.

Paying the CFC price for a generic apartment because CFC itself has a good story leaves too little protection if appreciation disappoints.

The same logic applies even more strongly to Ain Diab and Casablanca Marina, where current asking prices can reach roughly 24,000 and 33,000 MAD per m² respectively.

Is there enough rental demand for Casablanca apartments?

Casablanca has more than enough underlying rental demand to support well-located apartments, and this is one of the strongest parts of the investment case.

Casablanca prefecture alone counted roughly 910,000 households in the latest national census. The wider Casablanca-Settat region had more than 2 million households, including around 1.55 million urban households.

The tenant pool is also unusually diverse for Morocco. Casablanca draws employees from banking, consulting, industry, logistics, technology and professional services alongside students, expatriates, young couples and people moving within the metropolitan area.

Current rental listings confirm that demand is spread across many neighborhoods rather than one tourist zone. Esti.ma’s latest sample includes more than 1,100 active apartment rentals, while larger portals carry thousands more across CFC, Maarif, Bourgogne, Palmier, Oasis, Sidi Maarouf, Oulfa and other districts.

That reduces one of the classic investment risks seen in smaller property markets. A Casablanca landlord does not need international tourists or one seasonal industry to keep an ordinary apartment occupied.

The best protection against vacancy remains straightforward: stay close to jobs, transport and daily services, and buy a unit size that ordinary tenants can actually afford.

Get the full checklist for your due diligence in Casablanca

Don't repeat the same mistakes others have made before you. Make sure everything is in order before signing your sales contract.

Download Now

Will Casablanca’s new transport projects lift apartment prices?

Casablanca’s new transport infrastructure should help selected apartments over time, but buying solely because a future rail or transport project is nearby would be too speculative.

The city already has four tram lines after the opening of T3 and T4. Casablanca is also at the center of Morocco’s much larger rail and infrastructure program ahead of 2030, including additional regional rail capacity, high-speed rail investment and major airport expansion.

The scale is unusually large. IMF work on Morocco’s infrastructure pipeline estimates roughly 190 billion MAD of major connectivity and tourism-related investment associated with the 2030 program, with rail accounting for a large share.

That should make parts of Casablanca easier to reach and expand the number of viable residential locations around major job centers.

The property effect comes down to minutes saved in a real commute. An apartment that gains a fast connection to Casa Finance City, Casa-Port, Casa-Voyageurs, Sidi Maarouf or the airport may become materially more useful. An apartment several streets away from a future station but already priced at a huge “infrastructure premium” offers a much weaker bet.

Casablanca’s economy also supports the longer-term story. Morocco’s economy has been growing strongly, while corporate credit and equipment lending have accelerated. Housing credit has expanded much more slowly, which suggests economic investment is currently stronger than household property speculation.

For a patient apartment buyer, that backdrop is fairly healthy: improving infrastructure and employment without an obvious residential buying frenzy.

Could Casablanca end up with too many new apartments?

Casablanca can easily produce too many expensive apartments in specific districts even while the city still lacks housing that ordinary households can afford.

The price gap is already striking. Morocco’s direct housing-aid program targets homes priced below 700,000 MAD for its main 70,000 MAD subsidy and below 300,000 MAD for the larger 100,000 MAD subsidy.

Casablanca’s current median apartment asking price is roughly 1.6 million MAD.

In other words, the median advertised Casablanca apartment costs more than twice the upper price eligible for the main housing subsidy.

That tells us where the real supply problem lies. Developers can keep delivering one- and two-bedroom apartments above 20,000 MAD per m² in premium districts while huge numbers of households remain priced out of that segment.

Investors should worry less about a citywide apartment glut and more about clusters of almost identical new units. If five nearby developments are competing for the same young professional tenant, the district can have an oversupply problem even while Casablanca overall does not.

Don't sign a document you don't understand in Casablanca

Buying a property over there? We have reviewed all the documents you need to know. Stay out of trouble - grab our comprehensive guide.

Download Now

Should you buy a new apartment or an older one in Casablanca?

A good resale apartment is often the better Casablanca purchase today because new-build premiums can be large enough to wipe out the advantages of buying new.

Current ReaConsult ranges illustrate the spread. In Maarif, newer apartments are roughly 12,000–16,500 MAD per m², while older units can fall around 9,500–13,500. Gauthier shows a similar pattern: around 14,000–18,000 for newer property versus 11,500–15,500 for older stock.

A 20% price difference gives the resale buyer a lot of money for renovation.

Older Casablanca apartments can also have larger rooms, better proportions and locations that developers could not reproduce today at the same price.

The obvious catch is the building. Elevator replacement, façade repairs, water infiltration, plumbing, unpaid syndic fees and badly maintained common areas can turn an apparent bargain into an expensive headache.

We would choose the older apartment when both the unit and copropriété have been properly checked. New construction becomes more attractive when the price premium is modest and the developer has a strong delivery record.

Paying 10% extra for a genuinely better building can make sense. Paying 30% simply to be the first person using the kitchen usually does not.

How much do buying costs hurt a Casablanca apartment investment?

Buying costs are high enough in Casablanca that short holding periods make very little financial sense.

Registration duty on residential property is generally 4%. Land-registration fees add roughly another 1.5%, while notary fees, VAT and administrative costs push the full acquisition bill toward approximately 6%–8% in many transactions.

For a 1.5 million MAD apartment, 7% represents 105,000 MAD. For a 2.5 million MAD apartment, the same percentage becomes 175,000 MAD.

Those costs create a meaningful break-even hurdle. If a 1.5 million MAD apartment rises 5%, the paper gain is only 75,000 MAD. That still falls short of 105,000 MAD in assumed acquisition costs before financing expenses or eventual selling costs.

Negotiation therefore matters more than it first appears. Getting 75,000 MAD off the asking price of a 1.5 million MAD apartment is equivalent to a 5% discount and offsets a large share of the transaction friction immediately.

Get fresh and reliable information about the market in Casablanca

Don't base significant investment decisions on outdated data. Get updated and accurate information.

Get the data

What could make a Casablanca apartment a bad buy today?

The easiest way to lose money on a Casablanca apartment today is to overpay for an ordinary property and assume future appreciation will fix the mistake.

Current conditions offer very little protection to that buyer. Apartment transactions remain weak. Mortgage rates are around 5%. Acquisition costs can absorb 6%–8% of the purchase price. Prime neighborhoods already carry enormous premiums.

A weak apartment can therefore sit on the market for months when it eventually needs to be resold.

We would be especially cautious when the entire investment case depends on one sentence: “CFC will keep growing,” “2030 will raise prices,” “the new train will change everything,” or “Casablanca property always goes up.”

The stronger deals already work without those assumptions. The negotiated price compares well with nearby units, realistic rent produces a decent return, the building is properly maintained, the apartment has broad tenant appeal and there are enough future buyers who could want it.

Future infrastructure or price appreciation can then improve an already sensible purchase rather than rescue a weak one.

Should I buy an apartment in Casablanca now?

Yes, selectively. Casablanca is currently a good place to negotiate for the right apartment, but there is no reason to rush into an average one.

The freshest evidence makes the answer clearer. Casablanca’s broader property market rebounded in the latest quarter, yet apartment transactions still fell 3.1%. Prices have not just come through a major boom. Mortgage rates are manageable but sit around 5%, so buyers cannot rely on unusually cheap financing. At the same time, realistic rental yields around 6%–7% can still make a sensibly priced apartment useful while we wait.

For someone buying a primary residence and expecting to stay at least seven to ten years, we would be comfortable buying now if the apartment is genuinely good and the mortgage does not stretch the household budget.

For an investor, we would focus on smaller apartments with broad long-term demand in places such as Maarif, Palmier, Bourgogne, selected parts of Gauthier, Sidi Maarouf and other strong employment or transport corridors. A gross yield around 6% is acceptable; 7% or more starts becoming interesting if the building and location also hold up.

We would be more demanding in CFC, Ain Diab, Oasis and Marina because current prices already assume a lot. Premium areas can absolutely work, but the apartment itself needs to deserve the premium.

For anyone who expects to sell again within two or three years, we would usually wait or rent. Transaction costs are simply too large relative to Casablanca’s recent rate of appreciation.

So yes, we would buy an apartment in Casablanca now, but the opportunity comes from the weakness of the apartment market rather than from chasing a new boom. Apartment transactions are still soft, sellers have less leverage than they did in a hot market, and buyers can afford to walk away until the numbers genuinely make sense.

Get to know the market before buying a property in Casablanca

Better information leads to better decisions. Get all the data you need before investing a large amount of money.

Get the data

Buying real estate in Casablanca can be risky

An increasing number of foreign investors are showing interest. However, 90% of them will make mistakes. Avoid the pitfalls with our comprehensive guide.

Download Now

Who is the author of this content?

SANDS OF WEALTH

A team specialized in real estate investing in MENA countries (Morocco, UAE, Oman, etc.)

We are a team of financial experts, legal professionals, developers, and local real estate specialists dedicated to helping people like you avoid mistakes when investing in real estate in a foreign place, particularly in Casablanca. If you’d like to learn more about us, you can check our presentation page.