If it is not easy to find a house or a shop for rent, then it is next to impossible to find a property for sale in the third largest Arab country. The problem is snowballing into a crisis and is apt to threaten the future of the real estate market, which is accused of trading in illegal bonds despite the fact that its size is approaching more than SR3 billion.
We saw what the real estate crisis did to the largest country in the world last year, and before that in Latin America in the 1980s. The matter did not stop with the fall of the market but, because the economy is a closely-related entity, led to the depletion of liquidity, bankruptcy of establishments, increase of unemployment, erosion of economic growth and onset of recession.
The question is: How can we protect the citizen who borrows to augment his income through investing in real estate? How can we ensure him something to supplement his income?
I will not answer these questions because they have already been answered by Khaled Al-Qahtani of the National Real Estate Commission. The first one is by developing systems and not delaying registration in order to avoid any foul play. In addition to this, the real estate offices should be better organized, especially since more than 80,000 citizens are working in such offices. A real estate authority similar to the Capital Market Authority should be created.
The second question concerning the citizen is solved by asking the authorities concerned with housing development to cooperate with the Real Estate Fund and the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. In addition, studies should be carried out on architectural designs and cityscapes. I add to this the formulation of general standards to decide the price of land and not to leave that to market conditions.
Financial analysts warned repeatedly about the downfall of the financial market but nobody listened to them except when it was too late. I am warning now about the real estate market. Does anybody care to listen?
