The real estate sector breathed a sigh of relief and looked forward to a bright future with the establishment of the Supreme Real Estate Authority, which came—after a long wait—— as the culmination of years of efforts and studies in which those involved poured their wealth of experience and the essence of their ideas, resulting in a system and regulations worthy of shaping the market’s future in light of a series of economic and regulatory changes in the sector, We must therefore express our deep gratitude and appreciation to the authorities for their interest and unwavering support, from the time the initiative was first proposed until the Committee of Experts submitted it to the Council of Ministers for approval.
We know that great ideas were behind this achievement, and they skillfully overcame the obstacles they faced until their efforts were crowned with success; however, there remains a new and significant challenge in achieving the Authority’s strategic objectives set forth in Article 3, which focus on eliminating distortions in the market by proposing systems, regulations, and policies related to real estate activities, establishing relevant standards, designing the necessary plans to exercise its powers, and overseeing their implementation, These objectives require a deep understanding and significant cooperation from all real estate practitioners across their various activities, so that the Authority can make its mark by facilitating and creating an ideal investment environment, free from obstacles, God willing.
According to statistics, there are more than 39,500 real estate establishments, 90% of which are small and medium-sized enterprises awaiting the Authority’s launch, as most of them have regulatory or professional deficiencies and are at risk of being forced out of the market if the Authority oversees real estate activity licensing and enforces its new standards.
Therefore, we hope that real estate companies and institutions will remedy the situation by creating strong entities with solid foundations capable of withstanding economic fluctuations and assisting the Authority and regulatory bodies in their work to establish solid pillars and rules for the real estate market, both from a market and regulatory perspective, andwe expect small firms to learn this lesson by merging and uniting with one another in strong alliances to avoid the consequences of leaving the market, because the future belongs to the strong, and the road ahead will be rough and arduous for real estate offices clustered along certain streets, especially since the relevant authorities have made significant strides in electronic transactions, particularly through the «Ijar» and »Wafi» programs.
What gives us even greater cause for optimism is that the Authority is backed by a board of directors vested with broad powers, comprising representatives from seven ministries—all of which will operate without overlapping jurisdictions—ensuring that plans are implemented smoothly under the Authority’s umbrella, It is expected that the Authority will join forces with the Ministry of Housing and the private sector to develop realistic and integrated solutions to provide the greatest possible number of housing units.
