Real estate consultancy Knight Frank reported that house prices in Riyadh rose at the fastest pace in at least five years, with apartment prices growing by 20 percent, while villa prices saw an 18.6 percent increase in sales prices.
Faisal Durrani, Partner – Head of Middle East Research at Knight Frank, explained: “The spectacular house price growth in Saudi mirrors what we are seeing around the world.
“However, in Saudi, the government’s programs to boost home ownership have turbo-charged demand, development activity, and house prices.”
Knight Frank data showed transaction volumes across Saudi Arabia fell to 60,000 during Q1. Total deal values were only reduced by two percent to SAR 40.4 billion ($10.77 billion), which reflects the strong price growth in the residential sector as a whole.
As Riyadh has been repositioned as the Saudi’s economic hub, younger Saudis are relocating to the city to take advantage of job opportunities, Knight Frank noted.
Knight Frank said the new residents were “semi-transient”, showing a preference for apartments over villas and renting over buying, with vendors responding accordingly by holding firm on price or turning to renting instead of selling.
