“Historic, visionary and courageous,” was the reaction of Alain Juppé, the French foreign minister. “A significant step that signals a clear commitment to democracy and respect for human rights,” said Catherine Ashton, European Union foreign affairs chief.

These were just two of the glowing reactions to the speech of King Mohammed VI of Morocco in June. The speech outlined a series of constitutional reforms that aims to strengthen and modernise the democratic processes and institutions in Morocco.

As the speech ended, cars flying Moroccan flags drove through the streets of the capital honking their horns, and young people marched along the streets banging drums and cheering. This is in stark contrast to the protests that have overthrown heads of state and collapsed governments in other Arab countries.

A national referendum on the reforms took place on July 1st and official figures showed a high turnout of 73% with an overwhelming 98.5% of Moroccans voting in favour of the King’s proposals.

The Moroccan stock market rose sharply after the King’s speech and many business analysts believe that these reforms will help the local economy and encourage foreign investment, which is expected to fuel the burgeoning Moroccan real estate market.

A report from the real estate consultancy, M2Morocco, found that domestic demand for property (especially in the low to mid-range) is continuing to outstrip supply. As a result average property prices are expected to rise rapidly over the coming years. M2Morocco also report that the local banking sector has been relatively unaffected by the global credit crunch and in fact the availability of mortgage finance has been growing rather than shrinking like in many developed economies. This coupled with the recent introduction of mortgages for foreign buyers is expected to give a further boost to the real estate market.

Unlike some of its troubled North African neighbours, the Moroccan economy stayed strong throughout the global recession. With confirmed GDP growth of 4.9% for 2009, 3.2% for 2010 and estimates of further growth for 2011, Morocco is set to outperform many nations which had shrinking GDP's during the same period.

M2Morocco real estate consultancy has recently opened a new office in Marrakech and is already seeing an increase in demand for second homes from overseas buyers who are turning away from the political instability in countries like Tunisia and Egypt. The company has extensive experience in doing business in Morocco and combines local expertise with a multilingual staff who can deal with clients in English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Dutch and Italian.

If you would like more information about this topic or to speak to a M2Morocco consultant about real estate in Morocco, please call Nik Kapur on +44 (0)7740948950 or email info@m2morocco.com.