Jordan’s real estate trading volume fell 5% in the first five months of 2026, reaching approximately JD 2.458 billion, according to the Department of Lands and Survey’s May report. Apartment sales held up better than land, but the split was the headline: foreign buyers returned to apartments in May and walked away from land, and the broader market is now tracking a government revenue line that is starting to slip.
The report captures a market dividing cleanly in two. Foreign apartment purchases in May rose 6% year-on-year and 16% month-on-month, even as foreign land purchases fell 40% from May 2025. Overall trading volume in May reached JD 474.27 million, down 12% from a year earlier and 17% from April, with declines recorded across both apartments and land.
The Five-Month Picture in One Number
The headline figure of JD 2.458 billion covers the period from January through May 2026, and marks a 5% decline compared with the same five-month window in 2025. The Department of Lands and Survey’s monthly report, published mid-June, lays out the totals in detail and splits them between apartments, land, foreign buyers, and corporate purchases.
May alone totaled JD 474.27 million, down 12% from May 2025 and 17% from April. The five-month run rate now sits below the trajectory of a 2025 that ended at JD 7.18 billion, up 7% on 2024, a contrast that has set the 2026 opening apart from last year’s run.
- 5-month 2026 trading volume: JD 2.458 billion, down 5% year-on-year
- May 2026 monthly volume: JD 474.27 million, down 12% year-on-year and 17% month-on-month
- 5-month apartment sales (total): down 9% year-on-year
- 5-month land sales (total): down 13% year-on-year
- 5-month government revenue: JD 104.66 million, down 1% year-on-year
Where the Decline Is Biting: Land
Land is taking the larger share of the slowdown. Sales of land plots across the Kingdom fell 13% in the first five months of 2026 versus the same period in 2025, and the May numbers show the gap widening. Land transactions in May dropped 14% year-on-year and 11% from April. Foreign land buyers, who had anchored some of the 2025 numbers, pulled back hard: their May land purchases were down 40% compared with May 2025 and 12% below April.
That 40% drop in foreign land demand is the most lopsided line in the report. Across all non-Jordanian ownership transactions, the five-month count was down 11% on 2025, with apartment transactions down 2% and land transactions down 23% over the same period. Foreigners are still buying property in Jordan, but they have stopped reaching for the larger plots.
Jordan’s 2025 property cycle had given land a notable boost. Company purchases of land rose 22% in the first half of 2025, and developers including those behind the Marsa Zayed project in Aqaba and the Lucent Residence in Amman were active buyers. The 2026 report does not name the developers, and it logs only 3,684 properties sold to companies across the Kingdom in the first five months.
The Apartment Anomaly
Apartments are doing the opposite of land, particularly with foreign buyers. Apartment sales to non-Jordanians rose 6% in May 2026 compared with May 2025, and 16% compared with April, even as total apartment sales across the Kingdom fell 12% year-on-year in May and 8% month-on-month. The foreign apartment buyer is the only segment in the May report showing a positive year-on-year swing.
The pattern fits the policy backdrop. The 2025-2026 outlook for Jordan’s property market, drawing on department data, attributed the prior year’s apartment strength to a government decision to grant a 50% registration fee exemption for residential apartments exceeding 150 square meters, a stimulus that has kept apartment transactions comparatively firm even as the broader market cools.
| Segment | May 2026 vs May 2025 | May 2026 vs April 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Total property sales | down 14% | down 10% |
| Apartment sales (total) | down 12% | down 8% |
| Land sales (total) | down 14% | down 11% |
| Foreign apartment purchases | up 6% | up 16% |
| Foreign land purchases | down 40% | down 12% |
Foreign Buyers: Strong May, Softer Year
For non-Jordanian buyers, May was a good month and the year has been a tougher one. The estimated value of property transactions by non-Jordanians in May reached JD 19.65 million, up 26% on both May 2025 and April 2026. That single month is the best note in the report. Over the first five months of 2026, the cumulative value of foreign transactions was JD 75.31 million, down 7% on the same period in 2025.
The split between value and count is also worth noting. The number of foreign ownership transactions in May fell 16% year-on-year, even as their total value rose, meaning each surviving transaction was worth more on average. The 2025 base helps explain the gap: department data summarised in the Homes Jordan outlook had logged a 21% jump in the value of non-Jordanian transactions in November 2025, a tailwind 2026 has so far been unable to extend.
- Foreign transaction value, May 2026: JD 19.65 million, up 26% year-on-year and month-on-month
- Foreign transaction value, 5-month 2026: JD 75.31 million, down 7% year-on-year
- Foreign transaction count, May 2026: down 16% year-on-year, up 5% month-on-month
- Foreign land count, May 2026: down 40% year-on-year, down 12% month-on-month
- Foreign apartment count, May 2026: up 6% year-on-year, up 16% month-on-month
Government Revenue Tracks the Slowdown
The cost of the slowdown shows up in the treasury. Government revenues from real estate transactions reached JD 104.66 million in the first five months of 2026, down 1% from the same period in 2025. The May line is sharper: revenues of JD 18.90 million were down 10% year-on-year and 16% month-on-month. With trading volume down 5% on the year and 12% in May, the revenue numbers are tracking the activity drop.
The 2025 comparison underscores the gap. The full year ended at JD 7.18 billion, up 7% on 2024, and revenues for the first eight months of 2025 had tracked ahead of the prior year. The five-month 2026 revenue line is now running below the equivalent 2025 monthly average, a small gap that sets up a slower second half for the budget if trading volume does not recover.
The 2025 Base and the 2026 Setup
The department’s 2025 numbers set a high bar. The full-year trading volume reached JD 7.18 billion, up 7% on 2024, and 139,261 properties changed hands in the first eleven months alone. That backdrop is what makes the 5% five-month decline in 2026 stand out as a turn, and it explains why the May report is being read as a turning point rather than a single bad month.
The 2025-2026 outlook had forecast continued growth in 2026, citing flagship developments such as Marsa Zayed in Aqaba and Lucent Residence in Amman, and a broader regional shift toward Jordan as a stable property destination. The 50% apartment registration fee exemption remains in force, and apartment sales to non-Jordanians in May were the one segment to print a year-on-year gain. The data also shows where the policy has not closed the gap: foreign land demand is off 40% in May, and the count of foreign transactions is still down 16% on the year.
The department’s next monthly report will carry the June numbers and the first six-month total, and that release will show whether the apartment-led split is holding or widening. For now, the May data points to a market in which two segments are running in opposite directions, with the land side doing the damage to the headline number.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Jordan’s real estate trading volume in the first five months of 2026?
Jordan’s real estate trading volume reached approximately JD 2.458 billion in the first five months of 2026, a 5% decline compared with the same period in 2025, per the Department of Lands and Survey’s May report. The May monthly total was JD 474.27 million, down 12% year-on-year and 17% from April.
Why are apartment sales holding up while land sales fall in Jordan?
Foreign apartment buyers in May 2026 lifted their purchases 6% on May 2025 and 16% on April, while total apartment sales were down 12% on the year. Land sales to non-Jordanians fell 40% in May, the steepest single fall in the report. A 50% registration fee exemption on residential apartments above 150 square meters, introduced in 2025, has kept apartment demand comparatively firm.
How much did foreign real estate investment in Jordan change in the first five months of 2026?
The estimated value of foreign ownership transactions in the first five months of 2026 was JD 75.31 million, down 7% from the same period in 2025. The count of foreign ownership transactions over the same five months was down 11% year-on-year, with apartment purchases down 2% and land purchases down 23%.
What is the impact on Jordan’s government revenue from real estate?
Treasury receipts from real estate transactions summed to JD 104.66 million for the first five months of 2026, a 1% drop on the same stretch of 2025. The May figure of JD 18.90 million was down 10% on May 2025 and 16% on April, tracking the volume slowdown.
