New residential mortgage contracts for individuals saw a significant surge in August 2021, reaching 27,398 new mortgage contracts, a 241% increase compared to August 2020, which recorded 22,121 contracts, according to the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) bulletin.
The value of residential mortgage financing also jumped in August to more than 13.3 billion riyals, a 321% increase, compared to August 2020, which recorded 10.1 billion riyals. On a monthly basis, the number of contracts grew by 47%, while the value of financing rose by 55% compared to last July.
The first eight months of this year (January through August 2021) saw 199,155 contracts issued by all banks and financing companies, with a value of 101 billion riyals, representing a 101% increase in the number of contracts and a 211% increase in financing, compared to the same period last year (2020), which recorded 180,616 contracts with a value exceeding 83.4 billion riyals.
The share of financing provided by banks reached 97.51% of total residential real estate financing, while financing for residential villas in August accounted for 78.1% of total financing, reaching a value of 10.3 billion riyals, and residential apartments accounted for approximately 18.1% with about 2.5 billion riyals, while financing for the purchase of residential land amounted to 527 million riyals, representing 4.1% of the financing for August.
It is worth noting that last year, 2020, recorded record growth equivalent to the total volume of contracts issued over the previous four years, exceeding 295,590 contracts with a value of 140.7 billion, and in 2019, real estate financing reached historic levels, exceeding 3.5 times the amount provided in 2018, with approximately 179,217 contracts worth 79.1 billion, while mortgage loans at the end of 2018 totaled approximately 50,496 contracts worth 29.5 billion, In 2017, there were approximately 30,833 contracts worth 21 billion, and 2016 saw the signing of 22,259 financing contracts worth 17 billion.