Real estate prices rose 1.7% y-o-y in 2Q 2024, driven by rising costs of residential real estate and agricultural land plots, according to the latest General Authority for Statistics (Gastat) real estate index (pdf).

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The culprit? The uptick owes to a 2.8% hike in residential real estate prices and a 1.5% in agricultural real estate prices. This is despite a 0.4% decline in the prices of commercial units.

REMEMBER- Rent has been cited as a major culprit driving consumer inflation in the Kingdom, with consumer prices recording a 1.5% y-o-y rise in June.

Some residential units are getting cheaper: While apartment prices increased 2.9%, the cost of houses declined 1.4%, villas 1.4%, and residential buildings 0.1%.

Quarter-on-quarter: Real estate prices inched up 1.1% in 2Q compared to the previous quarter. Apartment prices rose 2.1% q-o-q, villas were largely flat, while the prices of houses and residential buildings were unchanged. Meanwhile, prices for agricultural real estate were up 1.6%, while commercial prices remained unchanged.

REMEMBER- Rents are on an upward trend: Actual housing rents — which weighs the heaviest of all components in the Saudi consumer basket — experienced the most significant y-o-y rise, growing 10.1% in June compared to the same month in 2023.

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