By: Aseel bin Taleb & Mohamed Idries

Riyadh – Mubasher: Real estate experts on Wednesday confirmed the great demand for properties in Saudi Arabia.

Demand could reach 200,000 units annually, whereas developers produce between 30,000 and 70,000 units during that timeframe, they said, noting the major supply-and-demand gap.

The real estate sector needs new companies, local or foreign, to enter the market, the experts told Mubasher on the sidelines of the two-day Euromoney conference held in Riyadh.

Omar Nahas, head of real estate investment at MASIC, pinpointed the importance of diversifying real estate investments through geography and types of investment, which include residential, commercial and office investments.

The volume of real estate demand in the Kingdom, particularly residential demand, is huge, Nahas told Mubasher, adding that the largest portion of demand comes from within the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Salman bin Saedan, chairman of Bin SAEDAN, confirmed the need for foreign companies to enter the market and act as contractors under supervision of Saudi firms.

This relationship should be governed by the Ministry of Housing, he added.

As for new projects, Bin Saedan revealed to Mubasher that in the next couple of weeks, his company will commence construction of 450 units in northern Riyadh in cooperation with the housing ministry.

Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi