threatened areas is still being sold despite a construction ban by the mayoralty. According to sources at Jeddah's First Public Notary, the mayoralty has no authority to stop transfers; this can only be done with a court order. These comments come in the wake of the mayoralty taking a decision that 79 plots of land in east and southern Jeddah were on flood courses and that no construction could take place. Services and construction permits were then halted by the mayoralty. Abdullah Bin Sa'ad Al-Ahmari, Vice Chairman of the Real Estate Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that it was good thing that construction had been halted on these plots of land, but criticized the mayoralty for approving it in the first place. He confirmed that there were about 79 “approved” residential plots out of the over 5,000 on which construction permits were suspended. These plots have several buildings which are occupied. He said that the mayoralty's engineers had approved construction on the land without considering the danger posed by floods. “It seems the approved plans were designed in the mayoralty engineers' offices without checking the land,” he said. If the decision becomes final to halt all construction, then it should involve the acquisition of land and compensation, he said. Meanwhile, Suhaila Hariri, a female realtor, said recently that there was a 15 percent rise in prices in the real estate market, including plots of land and housing units, whether for rent or purchase. She said this price hike was likely because of the brisk business in the sale and purchase of real estate, particularly in northern Jeddah. She hinted that the reasons for the flurry of activity in the real estate market in northern Jeddah were because of the movement of residents from southern and eastern parts to the north. It was also due to the damage inflicted on the inhabited areas in eastern Jeddah.
