MAKKAH — The committee in charge of auctioning villas at the Iskan housing project in Makkah's Rusaifa district has revealed that about 20 residential units will be re-auctioned after some of the bidders withdrew before completing the procedures to finalize the purchase. Abdulrahman Al-Saeed, director general of the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) in the Makkah region and chairman of the auction committee, said the committee held a meeting Saturday evening to sort out the issue. He said the bidders joined the auction but withdrew at the last minute by giving flimsy excuses. According to Al-Saeed, some of the buyers claimed that the villas they had made the bids for are not the ones they were allotted when they went to finalize the deal. There were others who failed to present certified checks in time to complete the procedures and there were still others who withdrew from the auction. Al-Saeed said all of them violated the conditions set for participating in the auction and penal action would be taken against them. He added that the conditions of the auction stipulate that if any of the participants withdrew after the final bidding, the villa would be re-auctioned and if it was sold at a lower price, the previous bidder who withdrew from the deal would be made to pay the difference. The committee announced the sale of 160 villas for a total of SR205 million at the current auction. This brings the number of units auctioned off so far to 1036 villas at a combined price of more than SR1 billion. Observers say the Rusaifa Iskan auction has been the most successful real estate auction in the country so far and they attribute the success to transparency and clarity of procedures. The Rusaifa Housing Project was completed about 20 years ago but the housing units have not been utilized for various reasons. The Ministry of Finance proposed the auction to dispose of the villas after necessary renovation work. Subsequently, the commitee headed by Al-Saeed was tasked to sell the villas in a public auction. In addition to 1330 villas, the project includes four schools for boys and girls, two mosques, a primary health center as well as municipal services such as sanitary drainage and street lighting. It is expected that utilization of this project would ease the housing crisis in the holy city to some extent.
