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SRC, Dar Al Tamleek Ink New Agreement for Housing Funds

A man walks past the Kingdom Centre Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia April 12, 2016. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser
A man walks past the Kingdom Centre Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia April 12, 2016. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser
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SRC, Dar Al Tamleek Ink New Agreement for Housing Funds

A man walks past the Kingdom Centre Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia April 12, 2016. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser
A man walks past the Kingdom Centre Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia April 12, 2016. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser

Meeting a growing demand for Saudi housing funds, the Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC) signed a SAR 1.2 billion (approximately $ 320 million) deal with Dar Al Tamleek.

Dar Al Tamleek was launched in 2008 with a vision to become the Kingdom's leading expert in home financing solutions, helping people realize their goal of purchasing homes. It operates in major cities like Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam along with 12 other branch locations serving over 80% of the Saudi population.

The deal aims to buy a residential finance portfolio currently owned by Dar Al Tamleek and provide short-term financing over 18 months to the company.

It was inked by SRC CEO Fabrice Susini and Dar Al Tamleek CEO Yasser Abu Ateeq. This is the fifth agreement signed by the two parties, confirming the importance of the Saudi public-private sector partnership, which aims to inject more funds into the housing finance market.

SRC said that such agreements aim to empower more citizens to own homes, and to implement the Kingdom Vision 2030’s plan for the housing sector.

This is a step towards the company's goal of enabling lenders to offer more affordable housing solutions, said Fabrice Susini.

He also expressed SRC’s desire to continue its partnership with various residential finance companies and institutions.

Real estate funds are often considered one of the investment fields often seeking liquidity. However, a decline in profitability may bring unit prices downwards, forcing fund managers to increase their efforts to achieve the desired benchmark for profit set by investors.

These developments come as the Saudi economy, the largest in the Middle East, achieved positive growth set at 1.2% in its first quarter of 2018, further consolidating the feasibility of objectives for economic reform, objectives for diversifying the national economy and reducing oil dependence.

Non-oil GDP rose by 1.6% reaching SAR 371.02 billion riyals ($ 98.9 billion) at the end of the first quarter of 2018, compared with the same period in 2017.

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Fire, Smoke Upend Western Canada’s Summer Tourism Season

A helicopter works a forest fire outside of Jasper, Alberta, Canada, on Friday July 26, 2024. (Reuters)
A helicopter works a forest fire outside of Jasper, Alberta, Canada, on Friday July 26, 2024. (Reuters)
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Fire, Smoke Upend Western Canada’s Summer Tourism Season

A helicopter works a forest fire outside of Jasper, Alberta, Canada, on Friday July 26, 2024. (Reuters)
A helicopter works a forest fire outside of Jasper, Alberta, Canada, on Friday July 26, 2024. (Reuters)

Severe wildfire seasons are increasingly hurting western Canada's lucrative tourism industry, with some visitors beginning to avoid the busy late-summer months due to concerns about uncontrolled blazes, smoke-filled skies and road closures.

After a scorching start to July, nearly 600 wildfires are now ablaze across British Columbia and Alberta, including a huge fire that this week devastated the picturesque tourist town of Jasper in the Canadian Rockies.

Dozens of communities, including popular holiday spots in British Columbia's Kootenay region, are under evacuation orders and several highways are closed.

This year's surge in wildfire activity comes after Canada endured its worst-ever year for wildfires in 2023, when more than 15 million hectares (37 million acres) burned, including parts of the city of West Kelowna in the heart of British Columbia's wine region.

Ellen Walker-Matthews, head of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, said the industry was seeing a lot more last-minute travel decisions instead of booking in advance.

"It's a huge blow. July and August are traditionally the busiest months in the region," said Walker-Matthews, adding that while her region has been relatively unscathed by wildfires this summer, some visitors are choosing to avoid interior British Columbia altogether.

The members of the British Columbia Lodging and Campgrounds Association are reporting a 5-15% drop in bookings from a year ago, with the biggest declines coming from the hotter Okanagan and Cariboo regions, said Joss Penny, who heads the association.

"The concern is that this is something we have to live with and we have it every year now," said Penny.

Although wildfires in Canada's forests are natural and common, scientists say drier, hotter conditions fueled by climate change are leading to more volatile and frequent blazes.

'SMOKEY SKIES'

Some events, like the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival, usually held in August, have now been rescheduled to earlier in the summer to avoid what is now seen as peak smoke season. The festival, which was cancelled last year due to nearby wildfires, was this year moved to July to benefit from "less smokey skies."

Wildfires and extreme climatic events are prompting tourists to "change their plans not just temporarily, but permanently," said Elizabeth Halpenny, a tourism researcher and professor at the University of Alberta, noting that seasonal workers in the sector are often the hardest hit as they have few protections during a bad season or amid a cataclysmic fire.

Tourism contributed C$7.2 billion to the British Columbia economy in 2022, and C$9.9 billion to Alberta in 2023, according to the latest government data.

Jasper National Park is one of Canada's premier tourist destinations, with more than 2 million visitors a year flocking to see its pristine mountain landscapes and abundant wildlife, including grizzly bears, moose and elk.

Kelly Torrens, vice-president of product at international tour company Kensington Tours, described western Canada as a bucket-list destination. But the company now has 49 trips that were supposed to pass through Jasper this season in limbo. Six others were forced to evacuate the park when the fire hit.

Parks Canada has cancelled all camping reservations within Jasper National Park until Aug. 6 and with potentially 50% of the town's structures destroyed by fire, the cleanup and rebuild could take years.

Halpenny is among those hedging their bets.

"I've booked a campsite stay in the mountain parks but at the same time, I booked a campsite out on the prairie somewhere and that's my backup plan because I don't want to miss out on my vacation with my family."