They said the constituent assembly of the association would
comprise 12 women investors from the three cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
They added that the founders come from well-known Saudi business families.
The sources said top priority of the association would be to
raise the level of women's participation in real estate market on correct
scientific and economic bases so as to ensure the contribution of women in the
development of the national economy.
The sources noted that the entry of Saudi women in the real
estate market during the past few years has created a wide base of female
realtors. They said women now control about 20 percent of the real estate
market in the Kingdom that is considered the second largest in the world with
investments crossing two trillion riyals.
Ahmed Al-Muhandis, member of the National Real Estate
Committee, said last year building constructions in Jeddah alone were estimated
to be at more than SR200 billion. He expected the construction works to
continue at a rapid pace in the coming years in the light of the current
economic boom.
Al-Muhandis expected the real estate market to flourish with
increasing demand for housing units and the announcement of the government to
establish more economic cities and industrial regions.
"With this rapidly growing market more and more women
will enter the real estate sector. The women are actually now competing with
men at this sector which was solely dominated by men until very recently,"
he said.
Al-Muhandis was happy to see businesswomen entering the real
estate market as investors and marketers and said such a move would change the
attitude of society toward women.
He expected a rise in women realtors in the near future
especially when they establish their own association.
Speaking to Arab News, a number of women realtors said they
entered the real estate market for a host of reasons, the most important being
it was a safe market with good financial returns.
Izdihar Batoura, a female real estate expert, said she
entered this market more than a decade ago, adding: "I was looking for
distinction. There were not many women realtors at the time."
She said many Saudi women investors have become proficient
in concluding real estate deals and in other transactions of selling, buying
and marketing.
Sawsan Sh., a businesswoman, said investments in real estates
are the least risky and are not limited by a certain ceiling. "The real
estate market is always progressing. It needs new blood and can accept new
ideas any time," she said.
