Amid a remarkable indication of shifts in construction activity, building permits in Saudi Arabia recorded a significant decline at the beginning of 2026, breaking the growth path that continued throughout last year, reflecting a change in the pace of the real estate market and raising questions about the trends of the next phase.

The data showed that the number of building licenses issued decreased to 6919 licenses during January 2026, compared to 7411 licenses in January 2025, a decrease of 7% year-on-year, and the licenses recorded a sharp decrease on a monthly basis by 27%, compared to December 2025, when the number of licenses reached 9452, according to data from the General Authority for Statistics.

This is the first year-on-year decline since December 2024, indicating a noticeable shift in market trends after a period of continuous growth, and throughout 2025, <a href="https://amlak.net. building permits saw mixed performance, with the number of permits in January reaching 7411 for a year-on-year growth of 6%, then falling to 7290 in February, but registering a strong growth of 30% year-on-year.

The number of building permits declined to 7290 in February, but registered a strong growth of 30% year-on-year.

In March, the number of licenses fell to 5201 with 9% year-on-year growth, before rising in April to 5740 with a significant jump in growth of 76%. The mixed performance continued in May, with the number of licenses rising to 7,584 with a growth rate of 37%, then declining in June to 4,192 licenses with a limited annual growth of 9%.

The number of licenses declined in March, before rising to 5,740 licenses with a year-on-year growth of 9%.

In the second half of the year, licenses registered 5582 in July with 2% growth, then rose to 6998 in August with 9% growth, and relatively stable in September at 6920 licenses with the same growth rate of 9%.
In October, licenses rebounded to 7457 with 28% growth, then continued to rise in November to 8034 licenses with the same annual growth rate of 28%. The year ended in December at an all-time high of 9,452 licenses with a growth rate of 18%, according to preliminary data.

With the start of 2026, the trend returned to decline, with January recording only 6919 licenses, a year-on-year contraction of 7%, according to preliminary data, signaling a quieter start to the year for building permit activity compared to the previous year's momentum.

With the start of 2026, the trend returned to decline.