Naif Al-Suhaimy, leader of realtors in the holy city, said the construction drive would help solve the housing problem in the province. He said a third of the allocated area would be used for infrastructure, schools and mosques.
A source close to the Public Housing Authority told Al-Madinah Arabic daily that each housing unit would cover 350 to 500 square meters, adding that the designs would take the customs and traditions of Saudi families into consideration.
A municipality source said 2.7 million square meters have been allocated in Owaina, 2.6 million in Malileh, two million in Abyar Al-Mashi and 2.2 million in Swaidra for the project. The authority recently signed a contract to establish 8,143 housing units in 16 cities. Real-estate company Dar Al-Arkan said in October it would build a $2 billion project in Jeddah, including residential units, public parks and schools.
The Saudi real estate market is expected to grow by up to seven percent a year until 2012 as a result of an increasing population. The country’s native population tripled to 23 million from 7.3 million in 1975. An increase in expatriates’ population is another reason for the burgeoning demand. The population of foreign workers rose from 4.63 million in 1992 to 6.14 million in 2004, to more than seven million in 2010. Men comprised 70 percent of the total expatriates.
According to a real estate survey conducted by Banque Saudi Fransi, residential property prices in the Kingdom, which eased in 2009, are on the rise again. The capital Riyadh has witnessed the biggest gains in apartment and villa prices so far this year, although property values in areas of Jeddah were hit hard due to last November’s flash floods.
“Saudi Arabia’s property sector has been driven by domestic demand, without exhibiting excesses that led to the formation of asset price bubbles elsewhere in the Gulf,” the survey said.
But while residential property prices are strengthening again, the asking price for plots of residential and commercial land is still falling, according to the survey, which draws on real estate price data collected on six Saudi cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Alkhobar, Dhahran and Makkah.
