DUBAI: Residential home loans in Saudi Arabia raised by about a third in February from a year earlier, as per the new data from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA). About 26,800 new housing contracts were registered in February 2021 – 28 percent more than February 2020 – touching a cost of more than SR14 billion ($3.7 billion).
Banks arranged 97 percent of these home loan contacts, whereas the rest were given by financing companies, SAMA said.
Residential Villas calculated for about 80 percent of the new contracts, cost at about SR11.3 billion. Apartments came second at 16 percent, and land purchases counted at 4 percent.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put pressure on the global housing market, as people procrastinate big purchases because of worries about job security and financial stability.
In any case, repressed interest in new housing in the Kingdom is keeping the home loan market light.
The data provided contracts from January to February touched 59,671 with a cost of SR30.5 billion – showing growth of 20 percent in comparison to last year’s numbers.