RIYADH: Driven by various housing options, Saudi Arabia’s rental index rose by 12.5 during July 2023, compared to the same period a month before, said an official report.
According to the report issued by the electronic rental service network Ejar, which is connected with the Sakani platform in covering 160 cities and governments countrywide, the rental index revealed that over 275,000 residential and commercial rental transactions were recorded during July, compared to 240,000 deals in June.
Notably, June 2023 saw a 137 percent growth in residential rental deals compared to the same month last year.
The report showed the trend continued in July with residential rental deals increasing by 15 percent and commercial transactions going up by 11 percent as compared to June.
Among all the Saudi cities, Riyadh took the lead with more than 58,000 residential and commercial rental transactions during July valued at more than SR900 million ($240 million). Jeddah followed the Saudi capital with over 35,000 deals while Makkah and Madinah recorded more than 13,000 transactions each. Dammam recorded
According to the index, Riyadh topped Saudi cities in rental deals with more than 58,000 residential and commercial rental transactions during July, with a total value of more than SR900 million ($240 million). Jeddah followed the capital city with over 35,000 deals, while Madinah and Makkah came next with more than 13,000 deals each. Dammam, on the other hand, recorded over 12,000 deals.
The rental indicators allow beneficiaries to identify the price ranges of residential and commercial units.
Speaking to Arab News last January, Abdulaziz bin Yousef, CEO and chairman of Fay, a Riyadh-based private property management company, said there had been a huge growth in the Kingdom’s residential market.
“We have witnessed a huge demand for residential properties, and the growth has been exponential over the past 10 years, especially with the introduction of mortgages and the growth of the Saudi population,” he added.
Saudi Arabia’s commercial property market is one of the sector’s “leading lights” worldwide, according to a new survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
RICS said in a recent press release that Saudi Arabia’s commercial property market remains one of the leading lights in both the Middle East and North Africa and the world, adding that confidence in future market conditions remains high.
Saudi Arabia’s rental index rises by 12.5 during July
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Saudi Arabia’s rental index rises by 12.5 during July
‘The future is renewables,’ Indian energy minister tells World Economic Forum
- ‘In India, I can very confidently say, affordability (of renewables) is better than fossil fuel energy,’ says Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi during panel discussion
- Renewables are an increasingly important part of the energy mix and the technology is evolving rapidly, another expert says at session titled ‘Unstoppable March of Renewables?’
BEIRUT: “The future is renewables,” India’s minister of new and renewable energy told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.
“In India, I can very confidently say, affordability (of renewables) is better than fossil fuel energy,” Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi said during a panel discussion titled “Unstoppable March of Renewables?”
The cost of solar power has has fallen steeply in recent years compared with fossil fuels, Joshi said, adding: “The unstoppable march of renewables is perfectly right, and the future is renewables.”
Indian authorities have launched a major initiative to install rooftop solar panels on 10 million homes, he said. As a result, people are not only saving money on their electricity bills, “they are also selling (electricity) and earning money.”
He said that this represents a “success story” in India in terms of affordability and “that is what we planned.”
He acknowledged that more work needs to be done to improve reliability and consistency of supplies, and plans were being made to address this, including improved storage.
The other panelists in the discussion, which was moderated by Godfrey Mutizwa, the chief editor of CNBC Africa, included Marco Arcelli, CEO of ACWA Power; Catherine MacGregor, CEO of electricity company ENGIE Group; and Pan Jian, co-chair of lithium-ion battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology.
Asked by the moderator whether she believes “renewables are unstoppable,” MacGregor said: “Yes. I think some of the numbers that we are now facing are just proof points in terms of their magnitude.
“In 2024, I think it was 600 gigawatts that were installed across the globe … in Europe, close to 50 percent of the energy was produced from renewables in 2024. That has tripled since 2004.”
Renewables are an increasingly important and prominent part of the energy mix, she added, and the technology is evolving rapidly.
“It’s not small projects; it’s the magnitude of projects that strikes me the most, the scale-up that we are able to deliver,” MacGregor said.
“We are just starting construction in the UAE, for example. In terms of solar size it’s 1.5 gigawatts, just pure solar technology. So when I see in the Middle East a round-the-clock project with just solar and battery, it’s coming within reach.
“The technology advance, the cost, the competitiveness, the size, the R&D, the technology behind it and the pace is very impressive, which makes me, indeed, really say (renewables) is real. It plays a key role in, obviously, the energy demand that we see growing in most of the countries.
“You know, we talk a lot about energy transition, but for a lot of regions now it is more about energy additions. And renewables are indeed the fastest to come to market, and also in terms of scale are really impressive.”
Mutizwa asked Pan: “Are we there yet, in terms of beginning to declare mission accomplished? Are renewables here to stay?”
“I think we are on the road but (its is) very promising,” Pan replied. There is “great potential for future growth,” he added, and “the technology is ready, despite the fact that there are still a lot of challenges to overcome … it is all engineering questions. And from our perspective, we have been putting in a lot of resources and we are confident all these engineering challenges will be tackled along the way.”
Responding to the same question, Arcelli said: “Yes, I think we are beyond there on power, but on other sectors we are way behind … I would argue today that the technology you install by default is renewables.
“Is it a universal truth nowadays that renewables are the cheapest?” asked Mutizwa.
“It’s the cheapest everywhere,” Arcelli said.
