Arab News, Thursday, Apr 13, 2023 | Ramadan 22, 1444
Saudi real estate prices up 1% in Q1 2023: GASTAT
Saudi Arabia: Real estate prices in
Saudi Arabia edged up 1 percent in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the
same period a year ago, according to the latest data released by the General
Authority for Statistics.
The GASTAT report noted that the increase in real
estate prices was driven by the rise in the prices of residential properties by
1.6 percent and commercial real estate by 0.1 percent.
“Given the heavy weight of the residential sector
prices, it had a significant impact on the increase in this general index,” said
the report.
It added that the decline in the agricultural
sector contributed to reducing the rate of increase in the real estate index by
0.4 percent.
The report further noted that the prices of
apartments increased by 2.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, while the
prices of residential buildings and villas decreased by 0.9 percent and 0.3
percent respectively.
In the first quarter, house prices were stable and
did not record any relative change.
Whereas real estate prices in the commercial
sector increased by 0.1 percent, driven by the increase in the prices of
commercial plots of land and commercial centers prices by 0.1 percent.
The Real Estate Price Index is a statistical tool
for measuring the relative change in real estate prices in Saud Arabia. It is
based on a dataset of real estate transactions that are available in the
Ministry of Justice, according to GASTAT.
Compared to the fourth quarter of 2022, the
general real estate index dropped by 0.1 percent affected by the decrease in the
prices of the residential sector by 0.2 percent.
The report added that the prices of residential
buildings decreased by 0.9 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the
previous quarter, while the prices of villas and apartments dropped by 2 percent
and 0.1 percent respectively during the same time.
Earlier in March, data by the Real Estate General
Authority Ejar revealed that residential and commercial rent deals almost
doubled in value last year to reach SR76 billion ($20.2 billion) compared to
SR41.9 billion in 2021.
The report added that the total value of
commercial rent transactions amounted to SR40.9 billion in 2022, while those of
residential properties reached SR35.1 billion.