The Riyadh region continued to strengthen its position as the Kingdom’s largest real estate market during the first five months of 2026, recording transactions worth over 74 billion riyals, driven by strong activity in the sales and rental sectors, reflecting continued demand for residential real estate as well as commercial and investment properties in the capital.

Data from the General Real Estate Authority showed that total real estate transactions in Riyadh reached approximately 74.25 billion riyals during the period from January to May 2026, divided between sales transactions worth over 55.11 billion riyals and lease contracts worth 19.14 billion riyals, indicating continued momentum in the region’s real estate market.

Real Estate Sales Lead the Way
The real estate sales sector saw 28,782 transactions completed over five months, with a total value of nearly 55.11 billion riyals. The market started the year with a strong performance in January, recording sales of 11.69 billion riyals across more than 6,000 transactions, followed by February with 11.19 billion riyals from 5,388 transactions.
In March, the value of sales fell to 9.38 billion riyals—the lowest for the period—despite 4,773 transactions, reflecting the impact of the nature and value of the properties traded on total transaction volume, rather than just the number of transactions.
Activity picked up again in April, which led the first five months of the year in terms of both the number and value of transactions, after recording 7,238 sales totaling 11.85 billion riyals, before May maintained high levels with sales totaling 11 billion riyals across 5,377 transactions.

Rental Sector
In contrast, the rental sector continued its strong performance, with 592,845 lease contracts signed during the first five months of the year, totaling 19.14 billion riyals, confirming that the rental market is one of the main drivers of real estate activity in the capital.
The rental market started the year at its highest levels, with January recording contracts worth more than 5 billion riyals through more than 135,000 transactions, then rose in February to 5.40 billion riyals with more than 145,000 contracts executed—the highest number of contracts during the period up to that point.
The value of rentals declined in March to 3.21 billion riyals, coinciding with a drop in the number of contracts to about 88,000, and then reached about 3.02 billion riyals in April through more than 105,000 contracts. As for May, despite recording more than 118,000 lease contracts—the second-highest monthly total— it recorded the lowest financial value during the period at 2.51 billion riyals, reflecting that an increase in the number of contracts is not necessarily linked to a rise in transaction value, but is rather influenced by the average contract value and the nature of the leased units—whether residential or commercial.

These indicators highlight the continued strength of the real estate market in the Riyadh region, whether in terms of ownership or rental, supported by population growth, urban expansion, and major development projects, which reinforces the capital’s position as the largest center for real estate transactions in the Kingdom.