The Housing Data and Monitoring Center’s quarterly bulletin revealed that construction was completed on more than 106,000 new housing units and that construction began on 101,000 housing units currently under construction in the Saudi market during the first quarter of 2021.
The bulletin presents a wealth of information and statistics from official sources regarding developments in the local housing and mortgage finance sectors; details of the bulletin are available on the website.
The bulletin revealed a notable 29 percent increase in the number of new residential units completed during the first quarter of this year, totaling approximately 106,51 residential units, compared to 82,560 units during the first quarter of 2020, and a 0.6 percent increase compared to the fourth quarter of last year. This highlights the contribution of the “Sakani” and ”Wafi” in facilitating financing and enabling Saudi families to purchase their first home. The number of new housing units last year exceeded 344,000, which enhances the diversity and increases the supply of quality, affordably priced housing.
The bulletin also noted that construction began on 101,580 housing units during the first quarter of 2021, marking an 18 percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2020, which recorded 85,92,000 units, and a 0.7 percent increase compared to the fourth quarter of last year, The start-and-completion index is one of the indicators that reflects the growth in the number of new residential units constructed, whether through “self-construction” or the “Sakani” program in partnership with the private sector.
The bulletin noted a decline in average apartment prices during the first quarter of 2021, stabilizing below 500,000 riyals since the end of 2020, and a stabilization in average sale prices for land and houses during the same period, explaining that this is due to the efforts of the “Sakani” and ”Wafi” programs to provide suitable housing solutions and options in line with the preferences of Saudi families, in collaboration with real estate developers across all cities and regions of the Kingdom.
The bulletin also addressed residential real estate transactions, which exceeded 255,000—according to data from the Ministry of Justice — during the past year, 2020,
and the first quarter of 2021 saw the issuance of more than 82,000 sales contracts for residential properties, and a 16 percent decline in the average rent paid for housing compared to 2018 levels, according to data from the General Authority for Statistics.
The bulletin reviewed the performance of some housing system programs, and the “Sakani” program showed positive progress by enabling 49,566 Saudi families to move into new homes during the first quarter of 2021, and the issuance by the “Wafi” program issued 19 permits for the sale of residential units in projects under construction, providing more than 16,000 residential units, and the “Etmam” program to approve six residential plans covering an area exceeding 12 million square meters and to issue permits for the construction of approximately 3,000 housing units.
It noted that the growth rate of new real estate loans to individuals rose by 5.8 percent on a quarterly basis and 26 percent on a year-over-year basis, reaching 92,111 contracts, worth 48,022 billion riyals in the first quarter of 2021, with villas accounting for the highest share at 79.7 percent, while apartments accounted for 15.5 percent of financing, and land financing accounted for 4.8 percent—according to data from the Saudi Central Bank.