Saudi Arabia is in the midst of an astonishing building boom. Estimated in 2005 at SR5.6 trillion ($15 billion), the real estate market has grown to over SR 7.5 trillion ($20 billion).
The increase in activity, experts say, is due largely to the skyrocketing price of oil, excess in liquidity and an expanding population expected to require hundreds of thousands of houses, apartments, office complexes, restaurants, leisure centers, and hotels over the next five years. As a result of the rapid evolution of the Saudi real estate market, Saudi women have taken notice and acquired proprietorship of an estimated 10 percent of the lucrative property market.
According to other statistics, the Kingdom’s women have also sunk investments, valued at SR120 billion ($3.2 billion), into the sector. No wonder many local, not to mention foreign real estate companies, have awakened to the impact that the purchasing power of Saudi women can make on their businesses thus targeting them as prime clientele even from abroad.
One prime example of an international real estate company, which has proven successful in the Middle East region, is the US-based company ReMax International. The firm opened its Middle East headquarters in Saudi Arabia in 2003 under the franchise name of ReMax Arabia and currently has subagent offices in the Kingdom.
One of the most outstanding of those franchises, ReMax Aziza, owned by Saudi entrepreneur Aziza Mansour, is operated entirely by Saudi businesswomen.
The story and the struggle in becoming the first woman in the Middle East to be granted franchise rights to ReMax did not happen recently. The uphill battle began for Mansour over 15 years ago with the death of her husband, Abdulkarim ibn Yaquob, a prominent real estate marketer.
Left alone to raise five children under the age of 13, Mansour wanted to continue her husband’s business and at the same time provide a future for her kids. She took the small remaining amount of capital she had and the 30,000 square meters of land left behind by her husband located to the east of Jeddah and began building warehouses for lease.
“When I would receive lease payment from the one warehouse I had started with, I would invest it in building another warehouse until we had developed the entire area of land amounting to a total of 27 storage facilities,” Mansour said.
Mansour’s daughter, Mohjat, who is also the company’s computer information systems (CIS) and advertising manager, recalls the sacrifices that she and her siblings had to endure on the road to success. “We had to be really steadfast with a lot of things. For example some of our friends were able to travel during the summer, but we were unable to do so because we were building a business,” she said.
Nonetheless, after only five years, Mansour had built a successful business, but the battle still was not over. In the process of beginning to educate her children in the US, she applied for the franchise rights for ReMax to open a branch in Jeddah and was met with more controversy.
“When I first applied for the rights to become a franchisee I was extensively researched. This might not seem odd to some, because it is only natural that being an international company they would want to make sure I am qualified,” she said. “But, actually, the strange thing is that it seems that Saudi men automatically qualify while I was researched. Again, leading us again back to social stigma and barriers that Saudi women have to endure in trying to gain acceptance,” Mansour said, adding that things have gradually become better.
She applauded Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for his active role in opening the door in allowing Saudi women to pursue fields that were formerly culturally thought of as male-dominated and off-limits to women.
When asked what it takes for other women to gain the same type of success as she has experienced, she said, “It depends on the woman’s attitude and how she chooses to educate herself and build herself toward attaining that goal. For example, we had to be primarily self-sufficient as ReMax Arabia was very uncooperative in helping us open our office. After we paid our franchise fees, they frankly disappeared and this posed challenges in itself.”
She added that other ReMax offices in the region had experienced the same dilemma.
“After establishing our office and starting to work in the field, I was so shocked at the plight of Saudi women working in the real estate sector in this country,” said Mohjat. “We found that they were all working from home without a license and plainly acted as middlemen in connecting buyers and sellers via telephone. After the sale of the property they took their commissions and that was it,” she said.
Mohjat added that her company currently has two women real estate agents who physically show local properties. “We work primarily with Saudi women or couples who are interested in purchasing a property,” said Sarah, an agent at ReMax Aziza. “It is a really rewarding career and I am very happy to be working for this company,” she said.
Today, the company consists of three main sectors: construction, real estate, and advertising. Soon, ReMax Aziza will be signing a contract with Damac Properties to be subagents on behalf of real estate available in Cairo, Dubai, and in other major cities of the Kingdom. The company is also the subagents for Lomar Tower, as well as the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).
Mohjat was in total agreement with her mother’s comments on women empowerment, saying that it all depends on Saudi women’s ambition and what they want to do. “I believe our company is proof that if one puts one’s mind to accomplishing something one is capable to do anything,” she said.
Mohjat also said she would be willing to open a training branch within local educational institutions, or, if given a place in the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), would be interested in providing real estate training for young Saudi women.
“I want to encourage young Saudi women who are thinking of getting into the real estate field or any other formerly male-dominated career choice to just push the boundaries because I truly want Saudi women to be successful and independent, and show the world that we are a giant force. I know if just given the chance we could do so much good for our country and society,” she said.