JEDDAH — The average monthly salary of a Saudi citizen is less than the price of a square meter of land, according to official statistics of the ministries of justice and labor and social development. According to the statistics, the price of a square meter of land is about SR5,000 while the average salary of a Saudi citizen in the private sector is SR4,967. A Saudi citizen cannot own a house until his average monthly salary is SR10,000, according to a number of real estate experts. The experts also doubted the price of a square meter of land for the construction of apartments as estimated by the two ministries. They said the price of land in many areas is much less than what the two ministries have estimated. Abdullah Al-Ahmari, member of the real estate evaluation committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), said a Saudi citizen would need a monthly salary of SR15,000 to SR20,000 to be able to own a house. "About 60 percent of Saudis are receiving monthly salaries which are less than SR10,000," he said. Abdullah Al-Balawi, member of the JCCI's real estate committee, had a different view. He believes that Saudis with SR10,000 or more monthly salaries can easily build their own homes. "There are other incentives to help Saudis own homes. These include loans from commercial banks and the Real Estate Development Fund," he said. However, Ghada Al-Idrissi, a female member of the committee, said that judging by the statistics of the two ministries, it would take 70 to 100 years for a Saudi citizen to have a home of his/her own. The government has introduced new measures like legislation on mortgage reforms, the new building code system and the white land tax to spur real estate growth. These steps will help Saudis own homes, which in itself is part of the National Transformation Plan 2020 and Vision 2030. The Ministry of Housing has launched a program to allot as many as 120,000 housing units to citizens this year. The program, called ‘Sakani', is part of the total 280,000 housing units and financial assistance to be allotted by the ministry. ‘Sakani' will also include 75,000 housing plots ready for construction, and financial support for 85,000 from the Real Estate Development Fund (RDF) and banks. The new mechanism will be instrumental in bringing down the waiting period for housing units from 11 years to five years and increasing the number of beneficiaries of financial support.
