Saudi Arabia Launches $1b Real Estate Funds to Provide Thousands of Homes

The Saudi Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing during his tour of the Restatex Riyadh Real Estate Exhibition (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing during his tour of the Restatex Riyadh Real Estate Exhibition (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Launches $1b Real Estate Funds to Provide Thousands of Homes

The Saudi Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing during his tour of the Restatex Riyadh Real Estate Exhibition (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing during his tour of the Restatex Riyadh Real Estate Exhibition (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing Majid Al Hogail inaugurated Restatex Riyadh Real Estate Exhibition 2023 on March 7.

The exhibition, being held at Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center, will continue until March 10.

Several senior officials from government agencies, financing agencies and real estate development companies are expected to attend.

During the opening ceremony, Al Hogail witnessed the launch of real estate funds with a total value of more than SAR 4 billion ($1 billion), according to a press release.

The funds aim to provide more than 4,000 housing units in Riyadh and Madinah on an area of over one million square meters (sqm).

The exhibition enjoys wide participation from real estate development and marketing companies, financing agencies, Saudi banks and institutions specialized in housing and real estate affairs in the public and private sectors, which provide unique housing and financing solutions that suit various Saudi families and meets with the Vision 2030.

In this edition, Restatex will include eight dialogue sessions mainly focusing on the real estate industry and the role of the public and private sectors, sustainability and quality of life in the real estate sector, urban development and Saudi innovation, digital transformation in the real estate sector, affordable housing, real estate brokerage, housing projects challenges and solutions, and a success story by balancing quality and price.

In other news, Al Hogail inaugurated a technical link between the “Tatweer Program” of the Real Estate Development Fund and the Real Estate Developers Services Center “Etmam.”

The link comes with the aim of strengthening the complementary partnership between the Tatweer Program and Etmam.

This will contribute to automating and speeding up the submission of applications and achieving the goals of the national housing program, which focuses on raising the proportion of Saudi families owning their homes to 70 % by the end of 2030.



Gold Eyes Best Quarter in over Eight Years

A participant shows gold bars during the 21st edition of the international gold and jewelry exhibition at the Kuwait International Fairgrounds in Kuwait City on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Yasser AL ZAYYAT / AFP)
A participant shows gold bars during the 21st edition of the international gold and jewelry exhibition at the Kuwait International Fairgrounds in Kuwait City on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Yasser AL ZAYYAT / AFP)
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Gold Eyes Best Quarter in over Eight Years

A participant shows gold bars during the 21st edition of the international gold and jewelry exhibition at the Kuwait International Fairgrounds in Kuwait City on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Yasser AL ZAYYAT / AFP)
A participant shows gold bars during the 21st edition of the international gold and jewelry exhibition at the Kuwait International Fairgrounds in Kuwait City on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Yasser AL ZAYYAT / AFP)

Gold halted its record run on Friday but remained on track for its best quarter since 2016 after a rally catalysed by an outsized US Federal Reserve interest rate cut, while markets braced themselves for a crucial inflation report due later in the day.

Spot gold was down 0.1% at $2,666.50 per ounce as of 1115 GMT, below the all-time peak of $2,685.42 hit in the previous session. It is heading for its best quarter since the first three months of 2016.

US gold futures fell 0.2% to $2,688.90, Reuters reported.

"The market at this point in time has priced in all the good news and there's also some hesitancy from fresh buyers to get involved at these record high levels," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Bullion has risen 29% so far this year, hitting successive record peaks after last week's half-percentage-point cut by the Federal Reserve and the stimulus measures announced by China earlier this week.

Silver prices surged, tracking bullion's strong performance, though some analysts warn that the rally may fade.

"Overall, industrial demand is still supportive for silver. But we need to have a stronger economic performance in China as well as in other developed countries," said ANZ commodity strategist Soni Kumari.

The surge in silver prices is more a spillover impact from gold, Kumari said.

Spot silver eased 0.1% to $31.98 per ounce, after hitting its highest since December 2012 at $32.71 on Thursday. It is set for a third straight week of gains.

"I do believe silver will continue to outperform gold. But as we all know, wherever gold goes, silver tends to go, but faster," Hansen added.

Both gold and silver serve as safe-haven investments, but the latter has more industrial applications, so tends to underperform during recessions and outperform when economies expand.

Inflows into gold exchange-traded funds, particularly from Western investors, are set to rise in coming months, adding yet more positive stimulus for already record high bullion prices. Some banks expect gold to rise towards $3,000.

In other metals, platinum was up 0.5% at $1,012.40 but palladium fell nearly 1.5% to $1,031.75.