It is not yet time to find a “Let a flood-destroyed home become your dream house” advertisement in east Jeddah as real estate traders there expect a long recession in the wake of last month's floods. Residents, whose homes were ravaged by floodwaters, are still recovering from the disaster that has claimed over 117 lives in their neighborhoods, said Abdullah Al-Ahmari, who lives in east Jeddah. “Nobody is in a business mood here. We are still looking for our missing neighbors and friends,” he said. While over 5,500 families have been housed in furnished apartments, some were lucky enough to find their homes intact, needing only minor repairs. As the area is undergoing a revision of its layout in order to eliminate the chance of further disasters, Al-Ahmari expects that the real estate business will pick up soon, even in areas close to Misk Lake, which authorities have vowed to destroy because of the danger it poses to the environment and to those living nearby. The price of land in areas unaffected by the flood, especially in north Jeddah, is, however, expected to skyrocket. “Don't forget that there are people out there trying to take advantage of the disaster. Our misery has become their own delight,” Al-Ahmari said. Many homeowners have decided to buy in the city's less damaged neighborhoods, fueling sales and prices there. On the Aqarcity.com website, Jeddah's real estate brokers have been trying to sell the north side of the city as a new haven. Awad Al-Dossari, a real estate broker, has called for urgent monitoring of real estate prices in areas unaffected by the flood as some people try to profit from the disaster. The Real Estate Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) and the Ministry of Finance should step in to regulate the market now, he said. Al-Dossari, however, thinks that the real estate market in east Jeddah will bounce back even stronger than before if the government re-plans it and protects it from floods. “Although swaths of this flood-battered side of the city are still without electricity and basic services, more intrepid homeowners, as well as aggressive investors, will begin buying property with the hope that there will be better planning in the future,” he said. “Ethically speaking, it is hard to jump into the pool now,” said real estate guru Ahmad Al-Faqih. “But the flood destruction will not greatly affect the value of real estate in east Jeddah as things will be corrected soon,” he said. The flood disaster will change the old way of doing real estate business, he said. “Investors will now be very cautious of land close to valleys and riverbeds unlike before.” Not a single house was sold in the first two weeks after the flood. Islamic Shariah prohibits its followers from taking business advantage of the flood disaster, said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Manee, a member of the Council of Senior Ulema and advisor at the Royal Court. The extra money businesses make as a result of the disaster either from rents at furnished apartments or sales of land plots is ill-gotten and “similar to usurped money,” he said, calling upon businesses to shoulder their social responsibilities. Shariah on missing victims A missing flood victim is pronounced dead only after four years have passed from the time when he or she was last seen, said Sheikh Bin Manee. If all hope is lost before the four years have expired, wives and husbands can annul the marriage and the inheritance can be distributed, he said.
