Developing countries seek to support their economies through domestic revenue by regulating emerging markets, enacting strict laws and regulations to close the gaps and loopholes that cause chaos and distort investment, which may seem unfair in the early stages but will ultimately have a positive impact on the growth of these markets.

Despite the efforts of real estate market regulators, certain factors have caused a shake-up in the market at a sensitive time, as the market suffers from a shortage of liquidity and a contraction in the local and global economies, leading to a general recession that has lasted for more than a year and a half. Consequently, official efforts continued to enact a number of decisions and regulations to regulate the real estate market and rescue it from the chaos that has plagued it over the past thirty years.

These measures adopted by the government aimed to resolve the issue of real estate contributions, which had tied up millions of square meters and millions of riyals. The Ministry of Commerce succeeded in this by resolving the deadlock in some cases and returning funds to investors, Subsequently, a ministerial decision was issued to establish the Saudi Authority for Accredited Appraisers, whose primary focus at the outset was to regulate real estate appraisal and create a new profession that would provide thousands of jobs annually for Saudi youth, This was followed by the “White Land” regulation, through which the Ministry of Housing placed restrictions on those hoarding land without using it for real estate development or sale.

Our joy was complete last week with the launch and inauguration of the Saudi Real Estate Institute, which will regulate the rest of the real estate market in all its details—from leasing, property management, and facilities to homeowners’ associations and off-plan sales—which are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs in the real estate sector. We await the implementation of the regulations governing real estate agencies, jointly established by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Housing, so that these regulations become the standard framework for real estate brokerage, limiting the professions of real estate marketing and property management to licensed professionals only, and the real estate market will be rid of the common saying circulating among some: “Got some free time? Open a real estate office.”