RIYADH: The Saudi real estate market has marked a sharp drop of 58.6 percent, its lowest record in the housing sector in 2016. It is the result of a significant drop of 56.7 percent in the total weekly sales settling at SR1.9 billion, the lowest weekly level in a decade.
Real estate experts said this drop in sales is caused by the low demand that followed the implementation of the so-called white land fees regulation, which pushed people who want to buy properties to wait for a real decline in prices.
Hamad Al-Dossary, owner of Giant Construction for real estate, said the market’s performance is still weak, and is unable to raise sales and control the drop in demand, as a result of the fees.
Al-Dossary noted that the low-valued sales explain the rigidity of the real estate market, saying this problem can be solved only if traders reduced prices to levels that allow people to buy properties, because the persistence of this condition harms all sides. The investor needs liquidity and the buyer seeks ownership and stability.
Real estate expert Abdullah Al-Mheisen said the current year has witnessed a remarkable decline in prices, which means that the market is on the right path.
Ali Al-Tamimi, CEO of Jabrah Real Estate Company, said the government’s announcement over the availability of 100,000 residential units, which are ready to be delivered, brings strong competitiveness to the commercial sector that should reconsider its projects and strategies, and to work on building units with affordable prices, noting that the government’s launch of similar projects is considered a means of pressure on the private sector.
Al-Tamimi added that the national real estate market cannot endure more decline in its activity. “It will move toward rigidity if the gap between prices and buyer capacity persists.”
White land fee hits real estate mkt
White land fee hits real estate mkt
Prince Faisal chairs King Fahd National Library’s first board meeting of 2026
- Board approved the formation of the supreme supervisory committee for the “Memory of a Nation” project and appointed CEO and committee secretary
RIYADH: Prince Faisal bin Salman, chairman of the King Fahd National Library, on Sunday chaired the library’s first board of trustees meeting for 2026, attended by the distinguished board members.
He emphasized that, since its founding through King Salman’s initiative and support, the library has played a pivotal role in preserving and providing access to Saudi intellectual and cultural heritage, while promoting activities that advance the country’s transformation toward a knowledge-based society.
The board approved the formation of the supreme supervisory committee for the “Memory of a Nation” project, appointed a CEO and a committee secretary, and endorsed the project’s organizational structure and charter.
The “Memory of a Nation” project is a national, institutional, and participatory program. It aims to collect, preserve, organize, and provide access to Saudi Arabia’s cultural and knowledge heritage in both physical and digital formats through a unified national digital platform with governance ensuring institutional integration, sustainability, and asset protection.
The board also discussed the “Deposit Empowerment” program, designed to transform the library into an integrated national deposit center, build a reliable database of intellectual production, improve access to deposit services, and enhance the participation of relevant entities to ensure the sustainable and organized use of Saudi intellectual output.
The board approved rules for deposit violations and their investigation and agreed to establish a permanent specialized committee. It also endorsed the regulatory framework for manuscripts and rare books and ratified the previous fiscal year’s final accounts.
The meeting concluded with a review of reports on the library’s progress and the adoption of the necessary recommendations.
