In recent times, the real estate sector has witnessed significant momentum toward governance, regulation, and internal restructuring, as authorities seek to empower the sector, ensure its sustainability, enhance its transparency, and improve its performance and service to its partners, thereby making the sector dynamic and attractive, and characterized by trust, credibility, and innovation.
By way of example, but not limited to this, the Council of Ministers issued a decision granting the General Real Estate Authority direct authority over the functions prescribed by law, so that the registration of real property in the Kingdom is now among the Authority’s duties in addition to its current functions, This decision was based on amendment proposals submitted by the Real Estate Authority, and approval was granted promptly.
The General Real Estate Authority also announced that the “Standards for Licensing and Classifying Online Real Estate Platforms” and the “Regulations Governing Real Estate Advertisements” have entered into force and are now in effect, These standards aim to curb fraudulent advertisements related to the real estate sector, thereby enhancing its reliability and raising the credibility of licensed online real estate platforms.
We are confident that the Standards for Licensing and Classifying Online Real Estate Platforms and the Regulations on Real Estate Advertising will contribute to the governance of real estate entities" activities, increase the reliability of transactions with them, protect the rights of customers, and enhance the quality of services provided in the real estate sector, in accordance with a system governing online real estate marketing.
For its part, the Ministry of Justice announced the expansion of the electronic real estate title transfer service, making it available through seven additional banks to include customers of the country’s financial institutions, Riyad Bank, Saudi British Bank, Al-Jazira Bank, Saudi Investment Bank, Arab National Bank, and Saudi French Bank, in addition to Al-Inmaa Bank, Al-Rajhi Bank, and the Saudi National Bank, in cooperation with the Saudi Central Bank.
Approval was also granted to amend the regulations of the General Real Estate Authority—issued by Cabinet Decision No. (239) dated 25/4/1438 AH.
In tandem with these developments, we are witnessing a rise in the volume of real estate loans provided by banks, which exceeded 500 billion riyals in the second quarter, while the volume of housing financing reached 87.7 billion riyals over the past 7 months. All of this is closely linked to the efforts of the ”Sakani" program, which aims to serve 300,000 new families, enabling them to own suitable housing from a variety of options.
All of the above are merely examples of the real estate landscape in recent days, and this demonstrates the ongoing process of review and reorganization. This attention stems from the vitality of this sector, whose output reached approximately 143.2 billion riyals in 2020, and accounts for 5.7 % of the Saudi economy as a whole. Despite the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sector is experiencing a positive response and continued momentum.
