Riyadh – Mubasher: US-based JLL on Thursday announced its report on Makkah’s real estate market for the first six months of 2017, where it assessed the most up-to date trends in the residential, retail, office and hotels sectors.

“Retail rents declined by 7.5% in the central area and over the past 6 months, as owners adjusted rentals to more realistic levels, to the benefit of retailers. Rents are expected to stabilize at current levels over the next 6 months”, JLL’s report added.

Makkah’s real estate market witnessed an improvement during H1-17 on the back of government’s raising of Hajj’s quota.

The number of Umrah pilgrims rose during H1-17 after the number the visas issued levelled up 5% reaching 6.7 million visas, compared to Umrah’s season in the year before, according to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah’s data.

The growth in pilgrims’ number was attributed to the partial completion of the Holy Mosque expansion, and extending the Umrah season for an extra month.

JLL indicated that Makkah is the only city that witnessed a significant increase in sales activity in the residential sector.