Real Estate Riyadh leads Saudi Arabia’s hot property market By Valentina Pasquali October 11, 2024, 1:52 PM Alamy via Reuters Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam are driving a significant surge in real estate transactions Demand outstripping supply Over 62% home ownership Annual values up 12 percent Strong population and employment growth in Riyadh is driving a surge in real estate transactions as new properties cannot come on the market fast enough. A dramatic rise in the number of deals in the 12 months to the end of June was also visible in Jeddah and Dammam, according to a report this week by real estate consultancy CBRE. Authorities are trying to raise the national home ownership rate to 70 percent under Vision 2030. An estimate shared with AGBI by the Sico Bank research team last month found that Saudi Arabia has already hit a “fairly strong” 62 to 65 percent of citizens owning their home. According to the CBRE report, the volume of residential transactions in Riyadh jumped almost 52 percent in the second quarter of 2024 over the same period the previous year. Growth in the number of sales was at 43 percent in Jeddah, where prices have nevertheless been stagnant for a couple of years, and a little over 22 percent in Dammam. Prices stabilise in Dubai’s off-plan market as supply grows Saudi property market grows despite flurry of new units Abu Dhabi mortgage deals surge as real estate thrives Apartment values in the Saudi capital have risen nearly 12 percent annually for four years, with those for villas also generally trending upward, though at a much lower rate. “Riyadh particularly is demonstrating attributes of an undersupplied market … resulting in very tight supply in certain areas of the market as new deliveries fail to keep pace with the robust housing demand,” said Matthew Green, CBRE head of research for Mena. In the second quarter of this year, villas in the Hittin and Al-Malqa neighbourhoods were on average the most expensive, while areas in central and northern Riyadh like As-Sulimaniyah, Al-Ta’awun, and An Nakheel saw the priciest apartments, according to the consultancy. The market for prime residential properties in Riyadh has become so tight in recent months that even wealthy expats are struggling to secure accommodation for themselves and their families. Among the constraints are the insufficient availability of high quality, modern properties and some lingering limitations in the range of mortgage products, which have put some buyers in a “wait-and-see mode,” according to CBRE. Saudi authorities have made a concerted, and by and large successful, push to boost real estate financing through local banks, the consultancy said. After a few sluggish years amid high interest rates, mortgage activity has been picking up in 2024. In March and April alone, new home loans were up 18 and 14 percent respectively year-on-year. Last month the kingdom linked up with American investment powerhouses like BlackRock and King Street Capital to further develop its secondary market for home loans and ensure more liquidity in the space