Saudi real estate yields 8% per annum since 2007

Published March 17th, 2010 - 08:17 GMT

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Dubai-based Cityscape Intelligence (CI) the leading global emerging country real estate information service, has today launched new market data which not only compares real estate sales and leasing prices in eighteen areas across Jeddah and Riyadh, but also compares office and residential asset classes, tracking prices back to 2007.

Moira Robertson, Project Director of Cityscape Intelligence, said, “No real estate price index like this existed in Saudi Arabia until we commissioned our own research. It was therefore surprising to find that the market has yielded on average 8% per annum clearly avoiding the boom bust that some other Gulf markets have suffered.”

“With Saudi Arabia’s more liberal attitude towards inward investment, robust liquidity, low construction costs, an undersupply in the Saudi market, especially for low cost housing and more transparent regulation regarding mortgages, industry professionals can now access comparable real estate pricing intelligence with a quarterly update,” added Robertson.

The new price index includes real estate sales and leasing prices in fifteen areas of Riyadh and three areas in Jeddah. Information on each area is then sub-divided into residential and or office real estate.

It is interesting to note that the rental prices for apartments in Riyadh and Jeddah can vary immensely. For example rental prices of three bedroom apartments in Jeddah are on average SR24,000 per unit, while the same in Riyadh is SAR52,000 per unit, a difference of 116%.

Sales of the same types of 3 bedroom properties in Jeddah are SAR292,500 on average but in Riyadh it will cost closer to SAR1.6 million, a massive difference of SAR1,307,500 or 447%.

“Choosing the right location could save potential investors thousands of dollars. For example in the case of residential property, separately we provide low, high and average pricing by district for villas and studio, one, two and three bedroom apartments.

“We also supply information on prices for commercial property on a cost per square metre basis as well as average yields for rental property. This is vital information for investors and developers and when combined with actual build costs can quickly establish initially whether projects are financially viable or not. Previously it might have taken months to reach that point in the due diligence cycle,” added Robertson.

CI filters 2,500 global news sources updated every hour. It maintains a searchable database with 37,000 real estate companies, providing extensive data on emerging markets. CI also produces editorial content and interviews with leading industry professionals.

“At present we have over 9,300 registered users,” said Robertson. “In today’s economic climate, real estate investors and developers need accurate and up-to-date market data, in the most cost-effective manner possible. With subscriptions starting at less than $2,500 per annum, we feel that we are meeting market demand.”

According to Robertson, this new feature dovetails perfectly with CIs project database. “Investors need to know the exact status of projects both planned and under construction. Our partnership with Proleads provides the most accurate construction project database in the region, providing added value to our comprehensive market data section.”

The new projects database section on CI has more than 4,000 real estate projects with their status, construction value, completion date, and developer and contractors details listed – all fully searchable. The database is updated weekly and covers projects from 2005 onwards in the Middle East, North Africa and India.