RIYADH — Mohammed Elkuwaiz, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA), said that the authority intends to allow non-Saudis to invest for the first time in listed companies that own real estate in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. The authority is working to diversify financing products in the capital market during the current year by developing the debt market, real estate contributions, and a number of developments in the funds sector. Addressing the Real Estate Future Forum in Riyadh on Monday, he said that the authority intends to allow non-Saudis to invest for the first time in listed companies that own real estate in Makkah and Madinah. In a statement posted on the X account of the authority, Elkuwaiz said that the increasing role played by the financial market in facilitating financing for the real estate sector outside the framework of traditional financing sectors, and in order to build a sustainable and prosperous future for the real estate sector. The CMA had allowed financial market institutions to accept contributions from non-Saudis in a real estate fund that invests part or all of its assets in a property located within the borders of the cities of Makkah and Madinah. He explained that there is still a great opportunity in the real estate sector to benefit from different types of financing in the capital market, whether through offering and listing or benefiting from debt markets. The volume of assets managed in the real estate funds sector amounted to about SR170 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2023, which constitutes a third of the assets managed in the financial market, which confirms the rapid growth in the real estate financing sector through the financial market.
