On the sidelines of the Restatex Cityscape Riyadh exhibition, which concluded last Saturday at the Exhibition and Convention Center, Al-Eqtisadiya TV hosted Mr. Abdulaziz Al-Issa, editor-in-chief of Amlak newspaper, and Musaffar Abudbil, a member of the Real Estate Committee, in an episode entitled “The Real Estate Sector: Investment and Challenges”.

The need for the Chamber of Commerce to participate in organizing exhibitions.

The need for the Chamber of Commerce to participate in organizing exhibitions

At the beginning of the episode, Abdulaziz Al-Issa called for the importance of entering the Chamber of Commerce in the process of organizing real estate exhibitions, as it is able to attract the largest number of major companies, and can play a major role in reducing the rental value of the exhibition. Al-Issa pointed to the limited number of participating national companies; he attributed this to the lack of arrival of the exhibition message in sufficient time; the company two weeks ago organized a similar exhibition in Dubai, which made the timing of the exhibition was not appropriate, especially since the summer vacation ended a little while ago.

In the same aspect, Abudbil, a member of the Real Estate Committee, explained the importance of the Chamber of Commerce in organizing real estate exhibitions.

In the same aspect, Musfar Abudbil said that foreign companies participating in the exhibition have a larger offer than national companies and Gulf companies in particular were present at the exhibition in a good way, while the offer of local companies was modest, indicating a large difference in prices between local and foreign residential units.

Statistics one million and 200 housing units. But? The editor-in-chief of Amlak newspaper explained that this figure is not accurate because the statistics include buildings that do not have the basics of life, some of which are in slums, and others are old buildings that have no future, and he expected the number of vacant units that suit the citizen's desires to be in the range of 300 thousand housing units, while Abudbil pointed out that this figure may be distributed in all regions of the Kingdom, not only in Riyadh.

Abudbil pointed out that this figure may be distributed in all regions of the Kingdom, not only in Riyadh.

2018 is the year of housing recovery or its end

<On the future of “housing”, Al-Issa expressed his optimism that next year will be full of achievements and recovery, especially since the new regulations stimulated real estate developers through the “completion” program, which reduced the time and effort in facilitating the procedures that he confined to one platform, Al-Issa pointed to the need of the real estate sector for more housing units suitable for price, specifications and quality, especially since the number of families is increasing, and Al-Issa pointed out that the rise in construction prices does not affect the recovery of the market if the supply is suitable for demand, and Al-Issa expected that 2018 will be the real starting point for the ministry to download its products to the ground, otherwise the situation will be complicated for it.

Financing: An obstacle between developers and the Ministry of Housing

During the program, Al-Issa explained that there is a major obstacle that stands in the way of starting the implementation of the actual partnership between the Ministry of Housing represented in financing, as the ministry pressures the developer, and the developer in turn chases the facilities and privileges of financing, and thus waits years to activate this partnership due to the lack of responsiveness of the financing bodies as required, in addition to that they want payment guarantees until they start pumping their money into development and housing construction, so we find that most plans and maps are locked in drawers despite their approval of part of the list of names.

Al-Issa stressed the importance and necessity of having a timetable that obliges companies to complete the construction stages as agreed upon, referring to the stalled "Orient Gate" project as the first project in off-plan sales.

Al-Issa stressed the importance and necessity of having a timetable that obliges companies to complete the construction stages as agreed upon. On the aspect of utilizing the expertise of foreign companies, Abudbil praised the Korean experience in the Kingdom, noting the strength and quality of its construction despite the passage of many years, but it still enjoys its vitality.

The editor-in-chief of Amlak newspaper continued his conversation with Al-Eqtisadiya, and the program addressed the application of the white land system in its first phase, where there are agreements between the ministry and large landowners, and there is a double solution to avoid fees and solve the housing issue at the same time; by taking advantage of those lands to build residential towers,

About the exemption of residential properties from VAT, Abu Dabil emphasized that it is a positive indicator for the decline of real estate prices and the movement of the market.