\n\tRIYADH: The slowdown recorded by official indicators in Saudi Arabia\u2019s real estate market during the first half of this year did not surprise observers. Rather, it reflected the practical unfolding of a \u201crebalancing\u201d phase whose signs began to emerge in 2025.<\/p>\n
\n\tWith major regulatory changes, such as parcel-based real estate registration coming into effect, investors and developers are now recalculating and watching the market carefully, ahead of a second half that experts expect to be led by real demand in residential projects and integrated logistics sectors.<\/p>\n
\n\tData from the Saudi Ministry of Justice\u2019s Real Estate Market, covering property transfers, showed that the total value of real estate transactions fell in the first half of 2026 to $21.9 billion, or SR82.2 billion, compared with $45.1 billion, or SR169.4 billion, in the same period of 2025 \u2014 a 51.5 percent decline, the steepest among the indicators.<\/p>\n
\n\tTransaction activity also slowed, with the number of deals falling to 161,900 from 220,000 a year earlier, a decline of 26.4 percent. The drop extended to the number of traded properties, which fell from 204,900 to 138,600, down 32.4 percent.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe total traded area also declined to 1.625 billion sq. meters from 2.088 billion sq.\u00a0meters in the first half of 2025, a fall of 22.2 percent.<\/p>\n
\n\tPrices, however, showed relative resilience compared with transaction volumes. Official data showed the average price per square meter fell to SR1,965 from SR2,217 a year earlier, down 11.4 percent. The highest recorded price per square meter also dropped to SR330,578 from SR453,124, a decline of about 27 percent.<\/p>\n
\n\tReassessment phase<\/p>\n
\n\tReal estate expert and appraiser Ahmad Al-Faqih told Asharq Al-Awsat that the decline in transaction value and volume was \u201cvery logical\u201d given two decisive developments in recent months: regional geopolitical events represented by the US-Iran war, and the actual impact of government decisions aimed at rebalancing the market.<\/p>\n
\n\tBoth were reflected quantitatively and qualitatively in trading activity, he said.<\/p>\n
\n\tAl-Faqih added that it was important to distinguish between traded and non-traded assets, noting that the exchange\u2019s indicators show many investors have moved their assets into the \u201cnon-traded\u201d category as they choose to wait and reposition themselves in light of market developments.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe described other economic variables, such as interest rates and financing costs, as \u201csecondary factors\u201d compared with the geopolitical and regulatory files.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe real estate investor, especially the speculator, is now going through a serious reassessment phase, particularly with the government\u2019s clear direction toward developing the sector and correcting its practices,\u201d he explained. \u201cThis approach will help redirect large liquidity flows into genuine development projects and increase housing supply.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMarket resilience<\/p>\n
\n\tReal estate expert Abdullah Al-Mousa agreed that the more than 51 percent fall in transaction values cannot be read as \u201ca direct reflection of an equivalent decline in prices.\u201d A deeper reading of the indicators is needed, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.<\/p>\n
\n\tAl-Mousa said the market underwent a pivotal institutional shift in the first half of 2026, with the expanded application of parcel-based registration and the transfer of real estate transactions in key areas \u2014 foremost among them Riyadh \u2014 to the Real Estate Registry system.<\/p>\n
\n\tThis is a major variable that must be considered in annual comparisons, he said.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe pointed to the market\u2019s underlying resilience, saying the 11 percent decline in the average price per square meter, compared with a drop of more than half in transaction values, confirms that the sector has not seen a sharp price correction<\/p>\n
\n\tInstead, the composition of deals has changed, with fewer billion-riyal transactions and high-value assets, while prices in locations with real demand have remained relatively stable, he remarked.<\/p>\n
\n\tAl-Mousa said the market is undergoing a phase of \u201cre-sorting,\u201d rather than a broad price correction. Liquidity has become more selective, and investors are increasingly turning toward high-quality assets with stronger investment feasibility.<\/p>\n
\n\tLooking ahead, he expects the second half of 2026 to bring gradual, qualitative improvement in real estate activity, while ruling out a quick return to the record transaction levels of previous years.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe sector is in a transitional phase driven by regulatory reforms, greater transparency and a more advanced legislative framework \u2014 factors that strengthen investor confidence over the medium term, even if their full impact takes time to appear, he went on to say.<\/p>\n
\n\tAl-Mousa said integrated residential projects that meet actual demand, along with the logistics and industrial sectors supported by economic growth and major projects, are likely to lead growth in the coming period.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe market\u2019s success in the next phase, \u201cwill not be measured only by transaction volume and quantity, but by its ability to attract quality investment, raise asset-use efficiency and achieve a sustainable balance between supply and demand,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RIYADH: The slowdown recorded by official indicators in Saudi Arabia\u2019s real estate market during the first half of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":783123,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":["post-783122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}