The Real Estate Contributions Committee at the Ministry of Commerce held two auctions yesterday for the “Fajr Abha” and ”Durra Abha” land plots at the Abha Palace Hotel, The auction concluded with total bids exceeding 35 million riyals. Bidding was limited to a small number of participants due to prices reaching such high levels that individuals and consortia were unable to continue in the auction.
The auction, chaired by Committee Chairman Abdulaziz Al-Ghamdi, began with the Fajr Abha plot, located on Al-Sawda Road, at 420 riyals per square meter for the 22,676 square meters and located 5 kilometers from the city of Abha, The auction concluded after one bidder won it for 19,059,178 riyals (nineteen million, fifty-nine thousand, one hundred seventy-eight riyals), and the auction lasted approximately 50 minutes.
The second auction, which lasted less than 20 minutes, was for the Durrat Abha plot located behind the Asir Mall markets. It started at 60 riyals per square meter, with a total value of 12,280,505 riyals at a price of 80 riyals per square meter, for a total of 16,374,006 riyals.
For his part, Hamza Abdulaziz Al-Askar, Secretary-General of the Real Estate Contributions Committee, explained in a statement to “Al-Watan” that “The legal procedures took a long time since the committees began working with the shareholders and other parties to verify the validity and integrity of the deeds for transfer, the integrity of the land, and the absence of any regulatory issues, These efforts culminated in the success of the auction, which achieved very good prices compared to market prices, and the sale was made at a price higher than the expected average.”
Regarding the unexpectedly quiet atmosphere in the auction hall during the real estate bidding, he replied: “There is never any commotion, but there may be some objections, and today’s proceedings were not conducted on a ”highest bid“ basis.”
Al-Askar addressed the land in Durat Abha, explaining that it “remains agricultural land that has not been converted to residential use, but it is within the residential zone.”
Regarding the existence of alliances among multiple bidders, he replied: “It is natural for alliances to form, but they were not evident today. Even if they existed, they were not against the sale. There have been auctions where alliances were evident, and they facilitated the sale and achieved a good price.”