Saudi Arabia’s real estate deals drop 14% in last 8 months

The value of real estate deals fell 14 percent to SAR  278 billion in the first eight months of the lunar Hijri calendar of 1436 (through mid-June 18, 2015), compared with the same period last year, according to the Saudi Justice Ministry.

Residential real estate transactions declined 14 percent to SAR 186.1 billion year-on-year, while commercial real estate deals dropped 16 percent to SAR 92 billion.

Residential properties deals in the month of Shaban, which ran from mid-May to June 17, fell 11 percent to SAR 22 billion, compared to the same month last year. In the same month, however, commercial deals rose 2 percent to SAR 12.4 billion.

Land deals represented 91 percent, or SAR 31.3 billion, of the total real estate transactions in that month, followed by apartments, which were valued at SAR 1.04 billion.

The Saudi capital, Riyadh, saw the highest residential and commercial property transactions.

Residential transactions reached SAR 6.31 billion last lunar month, yet it was 6 percent lower than the same period last year. While commercial deals dropped 13 percent to SAR 5.23 billion.

The Red Sea port city of Jeddah came second with SAR 4.33 billion in deals, but three percent less than the same month last year.