Saudi real estate market data revealed the following figures for last August: a record annual decline in the total value of transactions, amounting to 40.2%, reaching 14.8 billion riyals (about $4 billion).

The decline affected both the residential and commercial sectors, with the residential sector falling by 34.3% to settle at 9.98 billion riyals (about $2.66 billion), while the commercial sector fell by 49.7% to 4.8 billion riyals ($1.28 billion).

Since the beginning of this year, the total value of real estate transactions in Saudi Arabia during the first eight months of 2017 fell by 29.1% compared to the same period last year, settling at 137.0 billion riyals ($36.53 billion).The real estate market peaked in 2014, when it recorded 299.4 billion riyals ($79.84 billion). This means the market has declined this year by 54.2%, equivalent to 162.4 billion riyals (about $43.3 billion), compared to its performance in 2014.

The latest data released by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (the central bank) showed that that quarterly growth in mortgage loans granted by commercial banks and real estate finance institutions improved by 16% by the end of the second quarter of this year, settling at 237.5 billion riyals ($63.33 billion).The data also indicated record growth in mortgage loans granted to companies, with a quarterly growth rate of 28.9%—the highest growth since the fourth quarter of 2015.

The value of real estate loans granted to companies in Saudi Arabia stood at 110.5 billion riyals ($29.47 billion) at the end of the second quarter of 2017.

This coincides with a decline in the budget deficit and an increase in revenues, thanks to the recovery of oil prices in global markets and Riyadh’s efforts to rationalize spending and boost revenues.