Property prices are poised to go down in a range of 30 to 40 percent next year (2015), two prominent property experts were quoted as saying in local media reports.

According to Al-Hayat, the experts attributed their expectations to factors such as including application of (under study) decisions such as imposition of fees on vacant lands and cancelation of bogus land deeds.

The Housing Ministry’s delivery of its projected lands and loans to eligible citizens is likely to play a crucial role in stabilizing the property market.

Abdullah Al-Ahmari, head of the Real Estate Evaluation Committee at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), described the current situation in the real estate market as only a market correction.

All official decisions have a direct impact on the market, particularly those related to the imposition of fees on white (vacant) lands, he pointed out. Property prices are expected to fall considerably after the ministry delivers the lands and loans to eligible citizens, he said.

He stressed that the real estate market had seen some recessive behavior for two years because a majority of citizens were not buying property units as soaring prices limited the transactions to high-end categories.

Property expert Abdulrahman Al-Saad says that new package of decisions and measures, if fully applied, would inevitably reduce prices in the outskirts of cities. He called for additional measures to streamline the real estate industry.

Al-Saad stressed the need to link land registration clerks to licensed property firms.

Al-Saad called for serious efforts to boost confidence among dealers and to allay their concerns.