RIYADH — Minister of Municipalities and Housing Majid Al-Hogail announced significant growth in Saudi Arabia’s real estate sector at the opening of Cityscape Global 2024, the Kingdom’s largest property event themed 'The Future of Living.'"The number of local real estate developers participating this year has doubled to over 100, alongside 69 international developers," Al-Hogail stated, attributing this increase to the continuous rise in real estate transactions, which have exceeded SR630 billion since the beginning of the year.He highlighted that this momentum has positioned real estate as a core driver of economic diversification in the Kingdom.The minister unveiled new strategic projects and agreements surpassing SR 180 billion —a 50% increase over last…

  Cityscape Global, the world's largest real estate event, opened its doors today (November 11) in the Saudi capital with an expanded focus on driving business-to-business (B2B) transactions, marking its second consecutive year under the theme "The Future of Living". Running until November 14 at the Riyadh Exhibition & Convention Centre, this year’s event grows to add on two new halls over 45,000 sq m, featuring various new segments, more than 150 hours of content, 500 experts sharing ‘Future of Living’ insights, and 400 exhibitors, said the organiser Tahaluf, a joint venture of the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones, the Events Investment Fund, and global company Informa. Cityscape Global 2024 will offer real estate technology…

Reportage Properties, the leading UAE-based real estate developer, will be present to share in the activities "Cityscape Global 2024" exhibition, which is held in Saudi Arabia for the second year in a row, under the slogan "The Future of Life", at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Center in Malham, north of Riyadh, from November 11 to 14.   "Reportage Properties" confirmed keenness to participate in the "Cityscape Global 2024" exhibition in Riyadh, which provides an important platform for investors, real estate developers, designers and innovators, to exchange experience and expertise and make deals, in addition to explore the most important real estate projects worldwide. During participation in the exhibition, Reportage will showcase their latest real estate projects inside…

Saudi Arabia's residential real estate market is witnessing solid growth with the number of new residential units and mortgages continuing to rise, in keeping with the country's homeownership target, according to S&P Global Ratings. The kingdom's thriving residential real estate market reflects strong growth fundamentals and a largely youthful population of over 35 million people, stated S&P Global Ratings in its latest report titled 'Saudi Residential Real Estate: The Market Is Booming.' In S&P’s view, Saudi Arabia's economic indicators and population growth will remain strong. "We believe that Saudi Arabia's economic indicators and population growth will remain strong, and that new household formation and declining interest rates will support the demand for…

RIYADH — The Jeddah Mayoralty, in collaboration with the relevant authorities, managed to reclaim 18 government land sites on the waterfront in North Obhur along the Red Sea coast, with an area exceeding 217,000 square meters, during the current week. This was part of the mayoralty's ongoing efforts to protect public property.   The total number of sites that have so far reclaimed since the start of the mayoralty's field campaign to remove encroachments accounted for 52 sites, covering a total area of 3.254 million square meters , the Saudi Press Agency reported. The mayoralty seeks to refurbish these sites and open them to be public parks.   The mayoralty stressed the continuation of efforts, in collaboration with the relevant authorities, to reclaim government land…

PIF-backed developer Roshn is engaging with international banks to raise up to SAR 2.6 billion ($666 million) in the first quarter of 2025 as it adapts to the changing market in Saudi Arabia. Discussions are ongoing with four international banks, including JP Morgan and Standard Chartered, Fahad Al Ghamdi, the firm’s executive director, treasury and insurance, told Zawya. In the shorter term, Roshn expects to raise SAR 18 billion in total from local banks by the end of 2024, with a SAR 9 billion credit facility with six Saudi banks announced last month. Roshn was originally founded to build 400,000 homes as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goal of 70% home ownership; the country reached 63.7% home ownership in 2023. Roshn has branched out into commercial and retail and…

Doha, Qatar: The volume of mortgage transactions achieved during the third quarter (Q3) of this year reached 351 transactions with a total amount of QR10.802bn. Doha Municipality registered the highest number of mortgage transactions with 190 (equivalent to 54.1 percent) of the total number of mortgaged properties, followed by Al Rayyan Municipality with 84 transactions (equivalent to 23.9 percent). Then Umm Slal Municipality with 26 transactions (equivalent to 7.5 percent) of the total number of mortgaged properties, according to data by Ministry of Justice. Regarding the value of mortgages in Q3, 2024, Doha Municipality comes first with amount of QR8.763bn while Al Shamal Municipality registered the lowest value which reached QR2.160m. Considering the indicator of movement of…

Bahrain's leading telecom and technology group Beyon today (November 3) unveiled plans for launching its ambitious 380,000 sq m Digital City project at Hamala in partnership with Bahrain Real Estate Investment Company (Edamah), the real estate arm of Bahrain sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat Holding Company.   An agreement was inked by the duo on the opening day of the Gateway Gulf Investor Forum 2024 organized at the Four Seasons Hotel in Bahrain.   Through the signing, Beyon has named Edamah as the development manager for its signature project, for which construction is expected to begin in 2025.   Present at the signing ceremony were Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, the CEO of Mumtalakat and Chairman of Beyon and Edamah, as well as Andrew Kvalseth, the CEO of…

Doha: The real estate sector continues to drive Qatar’s economy as the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is estimated to grow by 1.96 percent in the years ahead. According to a report by Statista, the market is anticipated to amount to a value of $446.60bn by the year-end. In terms of the residential and housing sector, the market dominates with an estimated market volume of $237.80bn in the same year. Several realty experts noted that the demand will surge in 2025 and will further accelerate the GDP growth. Analysts have highlighted that the rental rates have increased during the previous quarter across several prime localities. Among the research platforms in Qatar, hapondo recently stated that the average rent for a one-bedroom listed in the key and emerging residential…

  Riyadh: The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) has released the real estate price index for the third quarter of 2024, with figures indicating a 2.6% increase compared to the same period in the previous year.   The primary driver of the overall increase in real estate prices in Q3 2024 was the residential sector, which saw a 1.6% annual growth. This growth was attributed to a 1.6% increase in residential land prices, a 1.9% increase in apartment prices, and a 1.5% increase in villa prices.   The commercial sector also experienced significant growth, with a 6.4% increase in prices in Q3 of 2024 compared to the same quarter in the previous year. This was primarily driven by a 6.3% increase in commercial land prices and an 8.6% increase in building…

Saudi Arabia - Ardara Development Company, a wholly-owned unit of Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF (Public Investment Fund) has announced that it has signed up top architectural firm OBMI and global partner Parsons for the development of its flagship AlWadi hospitality project. A transformative mixed-use waterfront development, AlWadi features well-designed residences, thriving commercial, and vibrant retail spaces, along with exhilarating entertainment outlets that aim to attract both locals and tourists year-round. Ardara (Arabic for Our Land, Our Home), will come up over a sprawling 2.5 million sq m, dedicating more than 30% of the project’s area as green open spaces, with 16 km of waterfront extending across the length of the project, and 17 km of sport trails and cultural…

A new high-grade office tower is set to redefine Muscat’s business landscape with the launch of the ‘Malak Tower’ project, which was officially launched on Tuesday. Held under the patronage of Abdulsalam bin Mohammed al Murshidi, President of Oman In-vestment Authority, the launch event brought together dignitaries, business leaders and senior officials. An investment of RO12mn, Malak Tower is a collaboration between H H Sayyid Dr Kamil Fahad Mahmood al Said, project owner, Al Khalili Group as developer and Tibiaan as marketing and management firm. Project completion is expected by the end of 2027. Speaking at the launch, H H Sayyid Kamil said, “Malak Tower is more than just a real estate project; it is a collaborative effort that offers substantial value to…