Saudi Minister of Housing Majid Al-Hogail stressed the importance of the housing sector to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product.
The Saudi housing program contributed $31.7 billion to the GDP, he said, while real estate financing exceeded $194 million in the first quarter of 2023.
Al-Hogail’s remarks came during his participation in the fourth edition of the Saudi Housing Finance Conference, which is hosted by Euromoney Conferences in Riyadh.
Held in partnership with and co-hosted by the Housing Program, Real Estate Development Fund (REDF), General Authority for Real Estate (REGA) and Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC), the theme of this year’s conference is “Meeting the challenges of scale”.
The minister stated that the sector contributed to providing 227,000 job opportunities in the first quarter of 2023, noting that the ministry relied in its projects on modern environmentally friendly technology, social coexistence, humanization, and designs that suit the Kingdom’s environment.
Al-Hogail added: “The housing market continues to play a defining role in the Kingdom’s growth and development. That we have made such significant strides as a nation over the last few years owes a great deal to the contributions of our housing sector to the national economy.”
Meanwhile, statistics at the conference showed that the total subsidized real estate financing contracts during the past 6 years exceeded 724,000, with a total value of 429 billion riyals ($114.4 billion).
Mansour bin Madi, CEO of the Real Estate Development Fund, said: “The pioneering role of the real estate fund contributed to creating a real estate financing market that enhanced the opportunities... and enabled partners and financing agencies to devise programs that support the goals of the fund.”
More than 500 participants discussed during the conference the latest developments in the Kingdom’s transition to an effective and innovative housing market.
Talks also centered on lessons learnt from international markets, the importance of financial and capital markets, the new regulatory landscape, mega projects, liquidity, higher interest rates and educating the investor base.
