The total value of real estate and infrastructure projects launched since the announcement of Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Plan in 2016 has reached $1.25 trillion.
The value of implemented projects amounted to $250 billion, according to a report by the global real estate consulting company Knight Frank.
“Arguably one of, if not the most, expansive real estate development programs ever seen in the world is gathering pace in Saudi Arabia as the 2030 deadline nears to realize Vision 2030,” Faisal Durrani, partner and head of Mena research, said.
He noted that the volume of planned residential units has risen to 660,000 units, an increase of 30 percent in the last 12 months, adding that affordability remained a major obstacle for many buyers.
“Affordability is still a key hurdle for many buyers and so price points for the new inventory will be critical to reigniting domestic demand,” he stated.
In the commercial market, 5.3 million square meters of retail space is now planned, with a further 289,000 hotel rooms that “will go some way to supporting Saudi Arabia’s goal of hosting 100 million visitors by 2030”, according to Durrani.
The Knight Frank report analyzes the value of real estate and infrastructure projects in the western half of the country, Riyadh and the remaining provinces. Western Saudi remains a pivotal part of the Kingdom’s transformative vision, with $687 billion in real estate projects expected to be delivered by the end of the decade.
“The western half of the Kingdom contains the highest concentration of headline-grabbing projects in the country, including of course NEOM,” Harmen de Jong, partner and head of strategy, Saudi Arabia, at Knight Frank said.
He added that during the past year, authorities announced various sub-components in NEOM, including Trojena, the host location for the 2030 Asian Games, as well as Sindalah, a luxury island that will be the first of NEOM’s projects to materialize.
“NEOM overall is also progressing rapidly, with $70 billion of projects now awarded, 45 percent of which has been completed,” he remarked.
The transformation is “clearly visible across the entire urban landscape”, as the planned giga projects are set to vastly expand the residential, office, retail, hospitality and industrial offerings to accommodate the projected population growth to 50 million by 2030, the report said.
It noted that Riyadh currently accounts for 18 percent of all ongoing real estate and development projects, totaling about $229 billion. This includes plans for more than 241,000 apartments by 2030, as well as 3.6 million square meters of office space.
Knight Frank also highlights King Salman Park as one of the most advanced mega projects in the city, with contracts worth $8.8 billion awarded in the $9 billion development project as it approaches completion in 2027.
Health care and education
Away from the headlines of giga projects across the Kingdom, an increasing attention is focused on the well-being of Saudi Arabia’s residents, by the improvement of world-class urban environments, according to Knight Frank.
This includes Qiddiya’s recent plans to expand in Jeddah, with the $266 million Qiddiya Coast Theme Park, as well as the $500 million Riyadh Sports Boulevard, and the $23 billion Green Riyadh, which will transform the Saudi capital into a green city through the planting of 7.5 million trees.
