Saudi Housing Ministry Reports 17% Rise in Construction of Units

A for-sale banner is placed on a private villa under construction, near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 29, 2018. (Reuters)
A for-sale banner is placed on a private villa under construction, near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 29, 2018. (Reuters)
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Saudi Housing Ministry Reports 17% Rise in Construction of Units

A for-sale banner is placed on a private villa under construction, near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 29, 2018. (Reuters)
A for-sale banner is placed on a private villa under construction, near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 29, 2018. (Reuters)

The number of completed housing units in Saudi Arabia increased 1.75 percent to 82,500 units during the first quarter of this year, compared to 81,100 units in Q4 2019, revealed the Housing Ministry’s periodic housing bulletin.

The number of housing units that began construction during Q1 2020 increased 17.01 percent to 85,900 units, compared to 73,400 units in Q4 2019, it added.

The bulletin also pointed to a slight increase of 0.8 percent in the housing sector price index during Q1 2020, compared to the Q4 2019. Land option prices increased by a similar rate of 0.8 percent, while the price index for villa options rose 1.5 percent in Q1 2020, compared to Q4 2019.

Further, the Estate Contributions Commission (Tasfiah) announced that it will put up for sale 377 plots, estimated at around 21 million square kilometers, in several cities across the Kingdom for commercial, housing or land uses.

Moreover, Saudi Arabia's Sakani program revealed that a total of 19,800 households benefitted in May from its various housing solutions and options. Among them, 10,700 families moved into their houses. This brings the total of households who benefited from all options since the beginning of 2020 to 150,300, including 53,800 who moved into their houses.



Bitcoin Drops to 11-day Low amid Tech Selloff

FILE PHOTO: Sparks strike representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin in this illustration taken November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sparks strike representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin in this illustration taken November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Bitcoin Drops to 11-day Low amid Tech Selloff

FILE PHOTO: Sparks strike representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin in this illustration taken November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sparks strike representation of cryptocurrency Bitcoin in this illustration taken November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Bitcoin fell below $100,000 on Monday, hitting its lowest in 11 days, in a move analysts attributed to a wave of caution after the surging popularity of a Chinese artificial intelligence model sparked a selloff in Western AI-related stocks.

The world's biggest cryptocurrency struggled to make gains last week, as a rally that had seen it break above $100,000 after US President Donald Trump's election ran out of steam, Reuters reported.

At 1156 GMT, bitcoin was at $98,852.17, down around 6% on the day, having fallen sharply in early trading to hit its lowest since Jan. 16.

Technology stocks plunged, as traders worried that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek could threaten Western companies' dominance of the sector, in a move some called AI's "Sputnik moment", referring to the former Soviet Union's launch of a satellite that marked the start of the space race in the late 1950s.

Bitcoin's losses are "seemingly driven by some risk-off sentiment circulating the markets currently due to DeepSeek," wrote eToro analyst Simon Peters.

Geoffrey Kendrick, global head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, said a decline in Nasdaq futures had hurt crypto markets, but that disappointment over the Trump administration's announcement about a cryptocurrency stockpile had put digital assets more at risk of a sharp selloff.

Crypto failed to feature in Trump's day-one announcements after taking office last week, leaving some investors disappointed. In an executive order on Thursday, Trump created a working group to draft new crypto rules and explore a crypto stockpile, while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) spiked accounting guidance that the industry said had stymied crypto adoption.

The prospect of interest rates staying higher for longer also hurt riskier assets, said Thomas Puech, CEO of digital asset hedge fund Indigo.

US Federal Reserve policymakers meet this week and are expected to keep interest rates on hold.