The Wave, Muscat, a premier mixed-use community project, has sealed an agreement with Bank Muscat for the sale of 230 residential apartments in 4 blocks at its ‘Marsa Parklands’ development to the Omani lender.

The deal for the units located between the marina and new Kempinski, The Wave, Muscat Hotel was finalised for RO30 million ($78 million), reported the Oman Observer.

The Omani developer also inked an agreement to develop a mixed portfolio of real estate assets for a new property fund to be managed by the bank involving investments of up to RO 75 million.

Bank Muscat has purchased the 230 units in the first tranche of a number of transactions planned at The Wave, Muscat and the largest off plan real estate purchase in Oman in the last 12 months, the report added.

“The deal marks an important milestone in the development of the Omani real estate sector. The MoU aims to strengthen institutional participation in commercially sound and sustainable real estate projects,” AbdulRazaq Ali Issa, the CEO of Bank Muscat, was quoted as saying.

“The Fund’s first purchase of Marsa Parklands is consistent with the bank’s strategy to offer investors a chance to participate in a relatively steady low risk investment with a healthy cash return over the long term,” he added.

The Wave, Muscat CEO  Hawazen Esber said the transaction with the country’s largest bank was an obvious step in capturing the increasing institutional investor interest in Oman’s property market and specifically to introduce new development opportunities to investors at The Wave, Muscat.

"Institutional investors are becoming more discerning in the type of assets and locations they are prepared to invest in and there has been a lot of interest for emerging opportunities," he added.