The residential segment has witnessed major price appreciation year over year. Land prices have shot up in Oman during the last year, especially prices of lands adjacent to mega projects. Most of the appreciation in prices was driven by speculative buying from GCC investors. Work on ``The Wave`` project has driven up the prices of adjoining seaside plots in Azaiba which shot up 100% in less than a year. I believe that the trend of escalating prices is likely to continue led by GCC investors` land purchases. The areas expected to witness the highest escalation in prices are the areas adjacent to the mega projects undertaken by the government in tourist designated zones such as ``Al Azaiba``, which is close to ``The Wave`` project, and the Sohar industrial area which is seeing increased activity, with lots of projects coming up. Residential rents have also climbed by 25% year on year basis in 2005.