The Kingdom’s real estate market is set to witness a sustained growth with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry making a significant announcement on Monday that the number of licensed real estate units ready for sale by the end of 2014 is more than 17,000, which is roughly valued at SR20 billion.

According to available statistics from the ministry’s program of real estate units’ sales program, the total number of licensed real estate units for sale in all regions of the Kingdom reached 17,258.

"Out of the total number, there are 14,834 housing units, 354 office units, eight commercial units and 2,070 land development units and the total value of these units spread across the Kingdom exceeds SR 19.3 billion," a statement by the ministry said.

The announcement stressed that the information provided by the developers or buyers are dealt confidentially and safely and will not be disclosed except in contributing to the protection of all parties’ rights.

This announcement by the ministry evoked encouraging responses from experts in the industry and is widely seen as a major boost to the Kingdom’s real estate market.

Reacting to the announcement Abdullah Sheikh, a manager of Jawdat construction company in Riyadh said it will have a significant impact on the real estate market, which is going to

witness further stability in the coming years; the real estate market will experience a state of equilibrium and stability. It will also solve problems related to the sector with these licensed real estate units ready for sale.

A former employee with the Alargan Projects, which is specialized in real estate development, said the new announcement is very much in the interest of the citizens as it will help them tremendously in resolving the housing and related problems in the Kingdom.

Notably, real estate in the Kingdom has been witnessing a sustained increase in demand, which resulted in strong growth due to the mortgage law and the additional loan program.

A study by Injaz development company said that these indicators are a result of the ongoing development projects being undertaken in vital sectors in order to keep pace with the growing demand.

According to the study, this robust performance is driven by various emerging factors, which include growing demand, attractive environment for local and regional investors, implementation of the new mortgage law, and support offered by the banking sector and investment companies to the local market, in addition to the additional loan program.