The The rental market in Saudi Arabia entered a new phase of growth during the first seven months of 2026, as the total value of lease contracts rose at a rate exceeding 21% compared to the same period last year, driven primarily by the surge in the non-residential sector, while the residential sector maintained its lead in terms of the number of transactions.
According to reports from the General Real Estate Authority, the total value of lease contracts in Saudi Arabia during the period from January to July 2026 rose by approximately 11.71 billion riyals, reaching 65.56 billion riyals, compared to approximately 53.85 billion riyals during the same period in 2025, marking a growth rate of 21.74%.
An analysis of market data reveals a clear distinction between the sources of growth in terms of value and volume of activity; The residential sector remains the most active in terms of the number of transactions and lease contracts, while the non-residential sector has become the main driver of the increase in transaction value during the period.
The non-residential sector leads the increase in value
The non-residential sector accounted for the lion’s share of the increase in rental value recorded during the first seven months of 2026, as the value of non-residential lease transactions rose from 25 billion riyals in the same period of 2025 to 35.95 billion riyals in 2026, an increase of approximately 10.95 billion riyals, representing a growth rate of 43.83%.
In contrast, the value of residential lease transactions rose from 28.86 billion riyals to 29.61 billion riyals, an increase of approximately 750 million riyals, representing a growth rate of 2.60%.
As a result, the total value of residential and non-residential lease transactions during the first seven months of 2026 reached approximately 65.56 billion riyals, compared to approximately 53.85 billion riyals during the corresponding period last year.
This distribution reflects a shift in the structure of the rental market; as the non-residential sector’s share of the total contract value rose from approximately 46.4% during the first seven months of 2025 to approximately 54.8% in the same period of 2026.
In contrast, the residential sector’s share declined from approximately 53.6% to 45.2%, confirming that non-residential activity has become the largest contributor to the increase in the total value of the rental market.
2.66 million rental transactions in 7 months
The growth of the rental market was not limited to a rise in value, as the market also saw significant activity in terms of the number of transactions during the period from January to July 2026, with the total number of rental transactions reaching approximately 2.66 million.
The residential sector accounted for the largest share of this activity, recording 1,980,309 lease transactions, compared to 681,397 transactions in the non-residential sector, bringing the total number of rental transactions across both sectors to 2,661,706.
In terms of lease agreements, the number of residential agreements reached 1,738,163, compared to 452,541 for the non-residential sector, for a total of 2,190,704 agreements during the first seven months of the year.
These figures show that residential activity accounted for approximately 74.40% of total lease transactions, and accounted for approximately 79.34% of the total number of lease contracts, compared to 25.60% for non-residential lease transactions.
Although the residential sector significantly outpaced the non-residential sector in the number of transactions, the non-residential sector recorded a clear lead in value growth, reflecting the higher average value associated with non-residential transactions compared to residential ones.
Residential Rents... Limited Growth and Sharp Fluctuations
The residential rental market maintained its positive trajectory during the first seven months of 2026, but this growth was limited compared to the surge achieved by the non-residential sector.
The value of residential lease transactions rose to 29.607 billion riyals during the period from January to July 2026, compared to 28.856 billion riyals during the same period in 2025, an increase of approximately 750 million riyals, representing a growth rate of 2.6%.
However, the monthly performance of the residential sector was characterized by significant fluctuations between increases and decreases.
In January 2026, the value of residential lease transactions reached 6.302 billion riyals, compared to 6.495 billion riyals in January 2025, a decrease of 2.98%.
In February, the value of residential transactions jumped to 7.02 billion riyals, compared to 3.801 billion riyals in the same month of 2025, marking significant growth of 84.68%.
In March, residential transactions totaled 4.059 billion riyals, compared to 3.797 billion riyals in March 2025, an increase of 6.91%.
In April, the value of residential transactions fell to 2.786 billion riyals, compared to 3.315 billion riyals during the same month of the previous year, a decrease of 15.96%.
May proved to be the weakest month in terms of year-over-year change, as the value of residential lease transactions fell to 987 million riyals, compared to approximately 3.397 billion riyals in May 2025, a sharp decline of 70.93%. The decline continued in June, when the value of residential transactions reached 2.864 billion riyals, compared to 3.681 billion riyals in June 2025, a decrease of 22.18%.
In July, the residential market returned to growth, as the value of rental transactions rose to 5.588 billion riyals, compared to 4.37 billion riyals in July 2025, an increase of 27.86%. Thus, despite sharp monthly fluctuations, the first seven months of 2026 ended with modest overall growth in the residential sector of 2.60%.
The non-residential sector... A 43.83% jump
Conversely, the non-residential sector outperformed the residential sector and was the main contributor to the increase in the total value of the rental market during the period.
The value of non-residential lease transactions rose from 24.997 billion riyals during the first seven months of 2025 to 35.952 billion riyals during the same period in 2026, an increase of approximately 10.95 billion riyals, representing a year-over-year growth rate of 43.83%.
This growth was supported by strong increases recorded by the sector in most months of the period.
In January, the value of non-residential lease transactions reached 5.674 billion riyals, compared to 6.865 billion riyals in January 2025, a decrease of 17.35%.
However, the market returned to strong growth in February, as the value of non-residential transactions rose to 5.811 billion riyals, compared to 3.319 billion riyals in February 2025, marking an increase of 75.07%.
In March, the value of transactions reached 3.6 billion riyals, compared to approximately 3.399 billion riyals in March of the previous year, representing a 5.91% increase.
April saw one of the largest jumps during the period, as the value of non-residential transactions rose to 4.758 billion riyals, compared to 2.12 billion riyals in April 2025, an increase of 124.4%.
In May, the market continued to post strong growth, with the value of non-residential lease transactions reaching 5.128 billion riyals, compared to approximately 2.775 billion riyals in May 2025, an increase of 84.78%.
June emerged as the strongest month in terms of growth rate, as the value of non-residential transactions jumped to 5.969 billion riyals, compared to 2.385 billion riyals in June 2025, an increase of 150.3%. In July, the value of non-residential transactions reached 5.012 billion riyals, compared to 4.133 billion riyals in July 2025, marking a growth rate of 21.29%.
With the exception of January, the non-residential sector recorded year-over-year growth in the other six months of the period, most notably in June with a rise of 150.30%, followed by April at 124.40%, and May at 84.78%, while growth in February was 75.07%, in July 21.29%, and in March 5.91%.
These increases raised the total value of non-residential lease transactions to 35.95 billion riyals, making the sector the largest contributor to the growth of the Saudi rental market in terms of value.
Riyadh Leads Regions in Number of Transactions
In terms of geographic distribution, the Riyadh region topped the list of the five administrative regions with the highest number of rental transactions during the first seven months of 2026.
Riyadh recorded 856,703 rental transactions, with a total transaction value of 3,909,102,246.286, placing it in first place by a clear margin over the other regions.
The Makkah region ranked second, with 695,750 lease transactions totaling 2,510,129,166.714.
The Eastern Province came in third place, recording 433,240 rental transactions, with a total value of 1,299,470,481.571.
Medina ranked fourth with a total of 156,415 transactions, with a total value of 502,681,182.143.
The Asir region ranked fifth, recording 119,928 rental transactions with a total value of 282,523,413.143.
The total number of transactions across the five regions reached 2,262,036, illustrating that a significant portion of the rental market’s activity is concentrated in major urban areas and centers.
Riyadh leads this breakdown by a wide margin with more than 856,700 transactions, followed by Makkah with approximately 695,800 transactions, then the Eastern Province with more than 433,200 transactions, while Madinah and Asir recorded approximately 156,400 and 119,900 transactions, respectively.
Value Grows Faster Than the Number of Transactions
Data from the first seven months of 2026 paints a different picture than simply a rise in the number of rental transactions; as the most notable growth in the market came from the value traded, not just from an increase in the volume of transactions.
The total value of lease contracts rose by 21.74%, reaching 65.56 billion riyals, compared to 53.85 billion riyals during the same period in 2025.
While the residential sector saw only a 2.60% increase in the value of its transactions, the non-residential sector recorded a 43.83% jump, becoming the main driver of market growth in terms of value.
Conversely, residential activity maintained its dominance in terms of the number of transactions, with the combined total of residential transactions and contracts exceeding 3.7 million, compared to approximately 1.13 million transactions and contracts for the non-residential sector.
