Lack of supply of affordable homes is a concern in the Middle East as a whole and no more so than Saudi Arabia, said Cityscape, the organizers of CityscapeConnect Business Breakfasts networking event. Leading real estate experts from the region are in Saudi Arabia for a key round table that discusses the Kingdom's affordable housing issues and also ways to tackle the problem. The Business Breakfasts held the first round at the M?venpick Hotel in Al-Khobar Sunday and the Jeddah Hilton Hotel today (Monday). "Saudi's real estate sector is now maturing as it begins to fulfill the high expectations of investors. The CityscapeConnect Business Breakfasts serve as a prelude to the annual Cityscape Jeddah event in June 2012 with its unique portfolio of exhibition and summits which is in line with the Government's vision for growth in the real estate industry," said Deep Marwaha, the group director of Cityscape. According to various studies and analysis, the discrepancy between supply and demand of housing units in Saudi Arabia is significant. Such huge demand for new residential properties in Saudi Arabia has led to the establishment of the Ministry of Housing in 2011. Commenting on the market's lack of sufficient affordable housing, Abdulaziz Al Shaibani CEO of Al Oula, said: "The government's strategy is dependent on private developers' willingness and capability to provide affordable housing. On the other hand, significant challenges still remain in the local markets, to make affordable housing feasible due to the huge demand gap that is outstripping supply, in addition to legislative obstacles." "However, given the fundamental demand driver, there should be significant opportunities for investors and developers to achieve sizeable returns. As for the real estate market in general, strong population growth continued economic development and diversification are set to ensure robust demand for all types of real estate over the coming decade," he noted. Commenting on the housing needs of the eastern province, Jenan's MD & CEO Dr Bassam Boodai said: "It is expected that the Eastern Province will require around 150,000 housing units by 2014, which is the highest demand in the Kingdom." "According to the Central Department of Statistics and Information, Saudi population is growing at a rate of 3.2 percent and with about 60 percent of Saudi population under the age of 30, the private and public sector needs to take serious action to cater for the ever increasing demand," he added. The government has already taken decisive action to tackle the problem by injecting SR250 billion into affordable housing and now it's up to the private sector to accommodate the demand. "A collaboration between the private sector and the government will be the most effective approach to meet the increasing demand in a record time," he further said. In addition to affordability in the residential market, the Business Breakfasts will cover the need for innovative financing models to secure the funds for project development in the current climate, profitability structures for public-private partnership models, and the cost of land for developing affordable housing projects in attractive locations, Marwaha added.
