The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is set to build 300,000 more housing units in the next five years, according to the Saudi housing minister Majid Al-Hogail. Saudi Arabia has identified housing as one of its key projects under Vision 2030.
Last month, it was reported that the Saudi housing programme Sakani has over 500 housing units under construction. The housing units in Saudi Arabia are being developed in partnership with the private sector.
The units are being built in the suburb of Khayala, They include 290 villas and townhouses with prices starting from $233,289 for a 258 sqm area.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s real estate price index increased by 0.4 percent during the second quarter of 2021, according to statistics issued by the General Authority for Statistics. The Kingdom also recorded a 0.8 percent increase in residential real estate prices. However, the prices of commercial and agricultural properties declined by 0.5 percent and 0.2 percent respectively.
Last month, the Kingdom’s central bank SAMA revealed that mortgage lending increased by 27 percent this year through May, as interest rates decreased to between 1 percent and 4.9 percent. Residential real estate financing contracts offered to individuals by local banks reached 133,006 through May, with a value of SR69.5 billion.
In this regard, Riyadh-based Menassat Reality CEO Khaled Almobid told the media, “There is great competition between banks and real estate finance companies to obtain a greater share of the housing demand, after government support and joint financing programs with the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF), which led to an increase in the volume of lending for home purchases.”