Saudi homes market hurt by barriers to mortgages



High costs, inadequate access to mortgage financing and a lack of suitable options are the main barriers to homeownership in Saudi Arabia, a property consultancy says.

"Saudi Arabia has the largest real estate market in the GCC but the least developed mortgage market, and this has resulted in a shortage of owner-occupied residential housing, particularly at the lower end of the income scale," analysts at CBRE said in a report released yesterday.

Saudi Arabia's mortgage penetration rate is estimated to be about 2 per cent, while the UAE has a rate of about 14 per cent, CBRE said. "Even this figure is well below mature western markets such as the United Kingdom, where the penetration rate is currently around 70 per cent."

Despite a shortage of housing in Riyadh, CBRE highlighted that apartments were unpopular among Saudi nationals, partly because of the lack of privacy and because the properties could not be expanded.

"The demand for expatriate compounds in Riyadh is very strong at present, with very high occupancy and rapidly growing rents, partly due to a current mismatch between demand and supply," the report stated.

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Euro 2020 qualifier

Fixture: Liechtenstein v Italy, Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)

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Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher:  Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
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Cracks in the Wall

Ben White, Pluto Press 

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Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg

Roma 4
Milner (15' OG), Dzeko (52'), Nainggolan (86', 90 4')

Liverpool 2
Mane (9'), Wijnaldum (25')

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Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

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Dos

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  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
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Don’ts 

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Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo 

 Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua

 Based: Dubai, UAE

 Number of employees: 28

 Sector: Financial services

 Investment: $9.5m

 Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. 

 
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