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
Multilateralism strained, but global cooperation adapting: WEF report
DUBAI: Overall levels of international cooperation have held steady in recent years, with smaller and more innovative partnerships emerging, often at regional and cross-regional levels, according to a World Economic Forum report.
The third edition of the Global Cooperation Barometer was launched on Thursday, ahead of the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos from Jan. 19 to 23.
“The takeaway of the Global Cooperation Barometer is that while multilateralism is under real strain, cooperation is not ending, it is adapting,” Ariel Kastner, head of geopolitical agenda and communications at WEF, told Arab News.
Developed alongside McKinsey & Company, the report uses 41 metrics to track global cooperation in five areas: Trade and capital; innovation and technology; climate and natural capital; health and wellness; and peace and security.
The pace of cooperation differs across sectors, with peace and security seeing the largest decline. Cooperation weakened across every tracked metric as conflicts intensified, military spending rose and multilateral mechanisms struggled to contain crises.
By contrast, climate and nature, alongside innovation and technology, recorded the strongest increases.
Rising finance flows and global supply chains supported record deployment of clean technologies, even as progress remained insufficient to meet global targets.
Despite tighter controls, cross-border data flows, IT services and digital connectivity continued to expand, underscoring the resilience of technology cooperation amid increasing restrictions.
The report found that collaboration in critical technologies is increasingly being channeled through smaller, aligned groupings rather than broad multilateral frameworks.
This reflects a broader shift, Kastner said, highlighting the trend toward “pragmatic forms of collaboration — at the regional level or among smaller groups of countries — that advance both shared priorities and national interests.”
“In the Gulf, for example, partnerships and investments with Asia, Europe and Africa in areas such as energy, technology and infrastructure, illustrate how focused collaboration can deliver results despite broader, global headwinds,” he said.
Meanwhile, health and wellness and trade and capital remained flat.
Health outcomes have so far held up following the pandemic, but sharp declines in development assistance are placing growing strain on lower- and middle-income countries.
In trade, cooperation remained above pre-pandemic levels, with goods volumes continuing to grow, albeit at a slower pace than the global economy, while services and selected capital flows showed stronger momentum.
The report also highlights the growing role of smaller, trade-dependent economies in sustaining global cooperation through initiatives such as the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership, launched in September 2025 by the UAE, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland.
Looking ahead, maintaining open channels of communication will be critical, Kastner said.
“Crucially, the building block of cooperation in today’s more uncertain era is dialogue — parties can only identify areas of common ground by speaking with one another.”
