ElKuwaiz expects real estate funds to play increasing role in financing sector

Mohammed ElKuwaiz, Chairman of Capital Market Authority

Chairman of the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) Mohammed ElKuwaiz said that he expects real estate funds to play an increasing role in financing the sector’s wheel, particularly after the authority's decision to allow foreign investors in real estate funds that invest in Makkah and Madinah.

In a dialogue session at the Real Estate Future Forum today, Feb. 23, he added that the aim of the decision is to provide more financial resources for real estate development in Makkah and Madinah, along with the Kingdom as a whole.

The Chairman explained that the size of real estate funds of different types reached SAR 124 billion in 2021 compared to SAR 59 billion in 2016.

The number of investors participating in the real estate fund sector rose to 310,000 in 2021, compared with less than 9,000 in 2016.

The average investment in real estate funds over the past five years is declining continuously, reaching less than SAR 400,000 during the past year, from to SAR 6.5 million in 2016, which indicates that real estate funds are playing an increasing role and characterized by the diversity of the investor base, particularly, with reliance on small investors, he noted.