Madinah Launches Mega Project with 3,700 Housing Units

Madinah Launches Mega Project with 3,700 Housing Units
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Madinah Launches Mega Project with 3,700 Housing Units

Madinah Launches Mega Project with 3,700 Housing Units

The Municipality of Madinah in western Saudi Arabia said Sunday it has approved a giant real estate project in the form of a residential neighborhood that includes more than 3,728 housing units, such as villas, buildings, mosques, schools and service facilities.

The Municipality didn’t disclose the cost of the project, which will be implemented by the Ministry of Housing in cooperation with the private sector.

It issued a permit to start construction for the project that consists of about 2,962 housing units on a land plot of approximately 740,000 square meters, which will include 766 residential buildings.

Each building has three apartments on separate floors.

According to Madinah Mayor Fahad Albuliheshi, the project falls in line with the joint cooperation among the Municipality, the Housing Ministry branch in Madinah and the Developers Services Center (ETMAM), in partnership with the private sector.

It provides housing units with different areas and designs that suit all needs, he noted.

The facilities and service locations, which were carefully selected and distributed to serve the population density, have been reviewed by architectural engineers, Albuliheshi added.

The project is located in a distinctive location in al-Sakb neighborhood in Madinah along King Khalid and Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz streets, he said.

It accommodates about 13,500 people within an integrated environment, a commercial complex, a health center, six schools for boys and girls, a kindergarten and seven mosques, the municipal chief explained.

General Manager at ETMAM Abdulwahab al-Qahtani stressed the strategic role played by the services center as a government initiative aimed at overcoming the obstacles facing the real estate developers and housing projects.

Qahtani pointed to the integrated role and fruitful cooperation provided by various government agencies to make the initiative a success.



Gold Firms; Focus on US Data for Cues on Fed's Policy Path

FILE PHOTO: A woman looks at a gold bangle inside a jewellery showroom at a market in Mumbai January 15, 2015. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman looks at a gold bangle inside a jewellery showroom at a market in Mumbai January 15, 2015. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade//File Photo
TT

Gold Firms; Focus on US Data for Cues on Fed's Policy Path

FILE PHOTO: A woman looks at a gold bangle inside a jewellery showroom at a market in Mumbai January 15, 2015. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman looks at a gold bangle inside a jewellery showroom at a market in Mumbai January 15, 2015. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade//File Photo

Gold prices hovered near a four-week peak on Thursday, while focus shifted to jobs report due on Friday for clarity on the Federal Reserve's 2025 interest rate path.
Spot gold edged 0.1% higher to $2,664.30 per ounce, as of 0732 GMT. US gold futures rose 0.4% to $2,681.80
"Prices are trading in a narrow range ... A new trigger is needed for gold to breach its resistance," said Ajay Kedia, director at Kedia Commodities in Mumbai.
The bullion hit a near four-week high in the previous session after a weaker-than-expected US private employment report hinted that the Fed may be less cautious about easing rates this year.
The market now awaits US jobs report on Friday for more cues on the Fed's policy path.
Investors are also awaiting Donald Trump to take office on Jan. 20 and his proposed tariffs and protectionist policies are expected to fuel inflation.
Policymakers at the Fed's last meeting also "noted that recent higher-than-expected readings on inflation, and the effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy, suggested that the process could take longer than previously anticipated," the minutes showed on Wednesday.
Bullion is considered an inflationary hedge, but high rates reduce the non-yielding asset's allure.
"We believe the bulk of the rally has been put in and that while gold's upward momentum may carry it higher in the near term and in early 2025, a combination of physical and financial market factors may tame the rally and drive gold moderately lower by the end of next year," HSBC said in a note.
Elsewhere, physically-backed gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) registered their first inflow in four years, the World Gold Council said.
Spot silver added 0.2% to $30.17 per ounce, platinum dropped 0.3% to $952.54 and palladium shed 0.8% to $921.37.