Bidaya Finance holds 50% finance in non-banking realty market, says CEO

Riyadh-based Bidaya Home Finance holds over 50 percent share of the non-banking real estate finance sector in Saudi Arabia, chief executive officer Mazin Al Ghunaim told Argaam in exclusive interview on Thursday.

“The various programs and products offered by Saudi Arabia’s Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) represent 30 percent of the contracts implemented by Bidaya,” Al Ghunaim said.

“Since its launch in early 2017, Bidaya provided finance to almost 7,000 households in cooperation with the Ministry of Housing and Real Estate Development Fund,” he added.

The home financing firm has also signed several agreements covering most products and schemes of REDF. Accordingly, the company has ranked first among peers despite being newly established, he said.

Al Ghunaim added that Bidaya is studying to set up a special purpose entity, as part of the Saudi market regulator’s efforts to diversify financing channels.

Additionally, he described Bidaya’s first sukuk issuance in April as successful, adding that the company is arranging for offering the second tranche worth SAR 250 million soon.

The Saudi property market prices have begun to recover though the residential and office units have seen a 30 percent drop from their 2013 peak.

“There is high anticipation in the market following the Kingdom’s economic reforms, including the white land tax and the value-added tax imposed on first-time homebuyers,” Al Ghunaim said.

Home mortgage grew by 6 percent year-on-year in 2018, he concluded.