RIYADH: Dammam led Saudi Arabia’s residential property market in the first quarter of 2026, with quarterly sales values surging 71 percent year on year to SR3.6 billion ($957 million), latest data showed.
According to real estate advisory and property consultancy Cavendish Maxwell, around 2,900 homes were sold in Dammam during the first quarter, marking a 41 percent increase from the previous quarter, when sales totaled SR2.1 billion. Compared with the same period last year, transaction volumes rose 25 percent while sales values increased 48 percent. Despite regional tensions, March recorded the highest monthly activity, with 1,265 transactions, underscoring the resilience of the city’s housing market.
The market’s momentum comes as the Kingdom continues to roll out reforms aimed at attracting investment into its real estate sector. A new law governing property ownership by non-Saudis came into force in January, allowing foreign individuals and companies to acquire real estate in designated areas under a regulated framework designed to enhance market efficiency and advance the nation’s Vision 2030 objectives.
The reforms also align with Saudi Arabia’s broader housing strategy, which aims to raise the national homeownership rate to 70 percent by the end of the decade. The Real Estate Development Fund said the initiatives are intended to expand mortgage lending capacity and support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 homeownership target.
“While the potential implications of the regional geopolitical situation remain closely monitored by market participants, it is still too early to draw definitive conclusions. A clearer assessment will emerge as market performance is evaluated over a longer period. Saudi Arabia’s residential market remains supported by strong domestic demand, with a predominantly local buyer base providing a degree of resilience against short-term external shocks,” Kevin Duffield, director of Built Asset Consulting at Cavendish Maxwell, said.
“Development pipelines are evolving across each city, with Riyadh seeing the most new supply in the medium term, and growth in Jeddah and Dammam more modest and measured. Collectively, this expanding pipeline is expected to play an increasing role in shaping market dynamics and gradually improving the balance between supply and demand,” he added.
The director noted that while short-term activity is likely to remain affected by affordability constraints, financing conditions, and external uncertainty, Saudi Arabia’s residential sector is expected to remain supported over the medium term by population growth, sustained government investment, and ongoing economic diversification.
Cavendish Maxwell’s latest analysis also showed Riyadh’s residential property market recorded quarterly growth in both transaction volumes and values during the first quarter of 2026, with around 8,800 homes sold for a combined SR13.4 billion, up nearly 12 percent and more than 4 percent, respectively, from the previous quarter.
On an annual basis, however, transaction volumes fell 64 percent while sales values declined 72 percent, reflecting a normalization in market activity following elevated levels in late 2024 and early 2025.
The consultancy said higher financing costs, affordability constraints, Ramadan, Eid, and regional uncertainty weighed on Riyadh’s first quarter performance. Jeddah also saw a slowdown in the first quarter, with sales volumes declining 25 percent from the previous quarter and around 30 percent year on year. A total of 5,800 transactions worth SR7.2 billion were recorded during the three-month period.
