Saudi sovereign wealth fund’s $4bn bond offering four times oversubscribed 

RIYADH: Experts at the Real Estate Future Forum emphasized the evolving landscape of property financing in Saudi Arabia, pointing to strong bank portfolios, public-private partnership opportunities, and a focus on foreign investment.

The Managing Director and Partner at Watheeq Financial Services, Ibrahim Al-Alwan, highlighted the rising significance of property financing for financial institutions: “Today, we see that banks’ portfolios in real estate financing are very high. The process involves regulation, management, and the implementation of effective tools for investment and financing.”

Joe Jabbour, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group, underlined the vast potential for PPPs, particularly in utilities, social, and civil infrastructure, facilitated by government offtake agreements.

“I must say that most of the investments that are being structured and are being prepared for the market, have the foreign investors in mind,” Jabbour said. 

On its second day, the forum explores the key trends shaping Saudi Arabia’s real estate sector as it advances toward Vision 2030 goals.

The inaugural day included industry leaders, policymakers, and investors who discussed the Kingdom’s ongoing focus on property development, investment strategies, and tourism expansion.

Governor of Asir Region Prince Turki Bin Talal said during a panel that the Public Investment Fund has nine projects in development, with four already launched and five underway in the region. 

The governor also said that Asir has between 6,000 and 8,000 approved and licensed hotel rooms. In line with this momentum, he also announced that the Ministry of Sports has officially recognized Abha’s World Cup bid as the best in the Kingdom.

A key highlight from the first day was the Capital Market Authority’s announcement permitting foreign investment in Saudi-listed companies that own real estate in Makkah and Madinah.

“On behalf of the CMA, we congratulate these companies,” CMA’s Chairman Mohammed El-Kuwaiz said.

The Real Estate Future Forum, taking place from Jan. 27 to 29 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh, serves as a global platform for shaping the industry’s future. Uniting over 300 speakers from 85 countries, the event explores innovations, sustainability initiatives, and investment strategies under the theme “Future for Humanity: Shaping Dreams into Reality.”

The upcoming event days are set to provide an outlook on integrating advanced technologies into the real estate sector, with panels diving into emerging trends like virtual reality for property marketing, the role of the metaverse in digital real estate, and the use of robotics and 3D printing in construction.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s state-owned developer NHC will price units 20 percent below market rates as part of its strategy to meet the surging demand for affordable housing, revealed its CEO. 

In an interview with Arab News on the sidelines of the fourth Real Estate Future Forum in Riyadh, Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Buty stated that the company will offer more than 140,000 housing units in 2025, starting at SR375,000 ($99,979), “which are very good prices, especially in Riyadh.” 

The company’s goals align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which is seeking to address the rising housing demand driven by population growth and economic expansion. 

“Most of the demand is in Riyadh, where we see the highest pressure on prices. However, we are also addressing demand in 17 cities nationwide, ensuring both affordability and quality,” Al-Buty said.

He added: “The focus we have is because the demand is real ... if there is demand, we have to focus on that. But we did not miss other cities as well. We are serving other cities.”

This comes after the company launched NHC Innovation on the event’s first day, a technology-driven subsidiary focused on delivering innovative real estate and municipal solutions while advancing new technologies. 

Al-Buty emphasized the importance of the development, saying: “We became the largest real estate company and market leader, so we decided to spin off a subsidiary to drive innovation and enter a new era of providing AI services.”

He added: “We have more than 20 million clients in our database. The company was born big, and just in 2024, we had more than half a billion transactions. We also had over 3.5 billion visitors to the platform.”

Al-Buty also highlighted NHC’s efforts to proactively manage supply chain challenges by securing materials and contractors in advance. 

“We work with both local and international suppliers to secure materials for the next two to three years. This helps us keep costs manageable despite the rising demand in the market,” he said.

The CEO continued: “That initiative was really great for our partners as well. If we succeed in securing those materials for our project at the current cost, I think we’ve done a great job, and we’re even trying to acquire them at a lower cost.”

He added: “That’s because the overall development in the country is driving prices a bit higher, so we’re working to secure those materials on time and at the current cost.”

NHC, which aims to supply 300,000 housing units by 2025, is expected to host over 1 million residents by 2030. That figure is projected to double to nearly 2 million in subsequent years. 

Al-Buty reiterated NHC’s focus on delivering value to its clients. “We are creating unique opportunities for ownership and investment while ensuring our housing solutions meet the market’s needs.”