RIYADH — House rents account for between 40 to 60 percent of Saudi workers' monthly salaries, according to a published study. The study, conducted by Dr. Asem Arab Center for Economic Consultancy, said the majority of Saudi tenants were between 25 and 30. The center believed that the number of Saudi tenants would rapidly drop in the coming few years if the Ministry of Housing and the Real Estate Development Fund granted houses and loans to citizens quickly. The study was conducted at a time where there is little data on real estate activity in the Kingdom. There are no statistics on how much Saudis spend on rent annually, the exact demand for homes and the accurate number of Saudi tenants. The demand for housing units in the Kingdom by far surpasses supply. The Kingdom, according to the study, needs SR500 billion to construct 1.25 million housing units by 2014, while total real estate finances will be an estimated SR60 billion by the end of 2013. Chairman of the Consumer Protection Society Dr. Nasser Al-Tuwaim announced earlier that the society had submitted a study to the Ministry of Finance asking the ministry to fix the prices of houses and cap rent levels for apartments, houses and commercial facilities. He said rent levels in the Kingdom have increased dramatically. He said the study forwarded to the ministry included certain recommended measures and mechanisms that would prevent any unjustified hikes in house rents. According to another study made by a foreign company, about 180,000 square meters of housing units were added to the real estate market in Riyadh during 2012. It said about a million square meters of new housing units would be added to the market by 2014. This will adversely affect the real estate market, especially because between 15 percent and 20 percent of housing units are vacant, it said. Realtors and members of the Shoura Council have asked the Ministry of Housing to reveal the exact number of Saudi citizens who actually owned houses and those who were still renting. According to unofficial statistics, the Kingdom needs about 2.25 million housing units by 2020.
