Exorbitant land prices behind housing crisis

An expert in the field of real estate said that land prices in the Kingdom represent 60 percent of the value of housing units as compared to international standards where land prices equal only 30 percent of the total value of housing units.
Speaking to Arab News, Abdullah Al-Ahmari, chairman of the real estate evaluation committee at the Jeddah Chamber for Commerce and Industry (JCCI), said that land prices had increased by 400 percent. Consequently many citizens were refraining from buying housing units or land because of the high rates.
Al-Ahmari said: “There is a new mechanism being proposed to control rentals in the Kingdom. The mechanism will be based on specialists’ evaluation of property values and the rent such housing units should fetch. However, in the meanwhile we are waiting to apply other systems which will facilitate the relationship between landlords and tenants.”
Their data will be recorded in a system called "Ejarah" he said.