With the recent re-opening of the King Fahd Causeway linking the Kingdom of Bahrain to Saudi Arabia, following a closure of more than a year, experts expect an increase in Saudi investment flows in the Bahraini real estate sector, as Manama accelerates the implementation of 40,000 housing units that will be delivered by 2022.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Ali Al-Mudaifa, Executive Director of Investments at the Bahrain Economic Development Board, said: “During 2020, the real estate sector maintained its position among the ten sectors that contribute the most to Bahrain’s economy.”
“With the reopening of the King Fahd Bridge to Saudi citizens, we expect to see a significant increase in the value of investments allocated to the real estate sector, as investors seek to take advantage of the projected growth in demand to meet tourism needs, whether through hotels or other tourist facilities,” he added.
Mudaifa noted that the growth in real estate transactions reflected the increasing demand for residential and retail real estate in the kingdom. It is an opportunity for investors and developers, who are able to benefit from Bahrain’s ideal business environment, such as the possibility of 100 percent foreign ownership, he remarked.
“In addition to the local demand for real estate, we witnessed a 21% increase in the value of real estate transactions by non-Bahrainis, including citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which reflects the investors’ confidence in the Bahraini real estate sector,” the official told Asharq Al-Awsat.
As for housing developments in Bahrain, nearly 3,000 real estate deals were completed in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 51 percent compared to the same period last year, while real estate transactions amounted to USD600 million in the same period, compared to USD440 million last year.
