Key Real Estate Trends - Saudi Arabia

Nearly a decade since its announcement in 2016, Vision 2030 has served as Saudi Arabia’s economic beacon for a future ready tomorrow. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has since experienced unprecedented growth, with real estate placed at the core of its strategy to diversify away from fossil fuels through projects designed to modernise and elevate the economic potential of cities and communities throughout the Kingdom.

As part of its Vision 2030 plan, the Kingdom looks to revamp the real estate and infrastructure sectors, with SAR 4.9 trillion invested since 2016. The investment includes the introduction of over one million residential units, over 7 million sqm in additional retail and office space, respectively, and an additional +300,000 hospitality rooms. These ambitions remain at the forefront, especially as the Kingdom gears to host mega-events, such as 2029 Winter Games, Expo 2030 and FIFA World Cup 2034 within the next 6 to 10 years.

In order to execute on its Vision 2030 strategy, the Saudi Arabian government has employed, or has announced plans to activate a series of levers in relation to the real estate sector to support economic growth and expansion. These levers range from increased focus on fostering foreign direct investment, announcing a series of flagship giga and mega projects to act as a catalyst to drive the real estate sector further, elevating its hospitality offering to generate greater international and domestic tourism; as well as greater involvement of the private sector in real estate development, and legislative reform to attract top talent and expatriate migration into the Kingdom.

In this paper, we look at how the Saudi Arabian real estate market has evolved over the course of the past decade, and what ongoing trends are expected to impact the trajectory and evolution of the KSA real estate market moving forward towards 2030.