The real estate market in the Eastern Province moved with a value exceeding 34.42 billion riyals during the first seven months of 2026, but the distribution of this liquidity reveals a clear paradox; real estate purchase deals accounted for the largest part of the value, while rental contracts topped the scene in terms of the number of transactions.
According to data from the General Authority for Real Estate, the total value of real estate purchase and rental transactions in the Eastern Province from January to July amounted to approximately 34.42 billion riyals, distributed between 25.33 billion riyals for purchase transactions and 9.10 billion riyals for rental transactions, while the total number of transactions reached 456,459 transactions during the period.
Purchases drive value by 25.33 billion riyals
Real estate purchase transactions accounted for the largest share of traded funds, with a total value of SAR 25,329,553,080 during the first seven months of the year, through 23,219 transactions, representing approximately 73.6% of the total value of purchase and rental transactions in the Eastern Province during the period.
Purchase transactions began in January with 3,587 deals worth 4,108,353,256 riyals, before the number of transactions declined in February to 3,087 deals worth 3,562,632,985 riyals.
March recorded the lowest monthly value of purchase transactions during the period, with the value of transactions reaching 2,362,825,760 riyals through 2,504 transactions, before the market strongly recovered its activity in April, recording the highest monthly value at 4,584,382,507 riyals through 3,754 transactions.
In May, the number of buy transactions reached 3,061, totaling SAR 3,381,722,740. This number rose to 3,504 transactions in June, valued at SAR 3,201,370,441. By July, activity had increased again to 3,722 transactions, with a total value of SAR 4,128,265,391.
Over the course of the seven months, the average purchase transaction value was approximately 1.09 million riyals, which illustrates the significant financial weight of acquisition and investment transactions compared to the value associated with lease contracts.
Leasing outperforms in the number of transactions
In contrast, the rental market moved at a completely different pace. During the same period, the Eastern Province recorded 433,240 rental transactions, with a total value of SAR 9,096,293,371, representing approximately 26.41 TP3T of the total value of purchase and rental transactions. January saw 70,631 rental transactions valued at SAR 1,639,052,020, and then the number of transactions rose in February to its highest monthly level during the period at 73,486 transactions, coinciding with the value reaching SAR 1,781,067,188, which is also the highest monthly value for rental transactions.
March saw a decline in activity, with 47,399 transactions recorded at a value of 1,082,247,137 riyals, before the number of transactions rose in April to 54,914 transactions at a value of 1,111,822,306 riyals.
In May, the number of leasing transactions reached 59,495, with the value hitting its lowest monthly level during the period at SAR 977,648,226. Activity then increased in June to 61,397 transactions worth SAR 1,101,881,802, before ending July with 65,918 transactions valued at SAR 1,402,574,692.
Thus, the average value of the lease transaction during the seven months amounted to only about 21,000 riyals, which is a large difference compared to the average purchase transaction of about 1.09 million riyals.
Two markets... and two measures of activity
Data from the Eastern Province during the period from January to July presents a different picture of real estate activity; the strength of the market cannot be measured by the number of transactions alone, nor is the financial value alone sufficient to read the volume of daily activity.
In terms of value, buying clearly dominated, accounting for roughly three-quarters of the funds traded in real estate transactions, compared to about a quarter for leasing. However, in terms of the number of transactions, the picture was almost reversed, with leasing contracts constituting the vast majority of all transactions.
The difference between the number of purchase and rental transactions amounted to more than 410,000 transactions during the seven months, as rentals recorded 433,240 transactions compared to 23,219 purchase transactions.
Conversely, the difference in value amounted to approximately 16.23 billion riyals in favor of purchasing, after the value of ownership deals reached 25.33 billion riyals compared to approximately 9.10 billion riyals for leasing deals.
