JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has been ranked 31st in the world’s Registering Property index compared to 49 in 2015, according to a recent report.

The data and analysis for this finding was collected as part of the World Bank’s Doing Business project.

The ranking of economies on the ease of registering property is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for registering property.

This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

Commenting on the improved rankings, a Jeddah-based real estate analyst said: “The real estate sector constitutes about 38 percent of the gross national income of the economy and at the same time this sector does have the largest number of Saudi nationals.”

Sami A. Al-Nwaisir, chairman of the board, Al-Sami Holding Group, stated: “The real estate sector is cash based. Only one percent to three percent of it is financed by banks while a major part of it is cash based. This makes it very solid and with a plenty of opportunities to build upon for many players from other parts of the economy such as finance and others.”

He added that real estate is used as a tool for investment and is a safe haven for many investors.

Al-Nwaisir said the private sector should grab the opportunities so that society can benefit from a healthy economic cycle.

He suggested that decision-makers should see the real value and importance of the real estate sector.