RIYADH: Dammam led Saudi Arabia’s residential property market in the first quarter of 2026, with quarterly sales values surging 71 percent year on year to SR3.6 billion ($957 million), latest data showed.
According to real estate advisory and property consultancy Cavendish Maxwell, around 2,900 homes were sold in Dammam during the first quarter, marking a 41 percent increase from the previous quarter, when sales totaled SR2.1 billion. Compared with the same period last year, transaction volumes rose 25 percent while sales values increased 48 percent. Despite regional tensions, March recorded the highest monthly activity, with 1,265 transactions, underscoring the resilience of the city’s housing market.
The market’s momentum comes as the Kingdom continues to roll out reforms aimed at attracting investment into its real estate sector. A new law governing property ownership by non-Saudis came into force in January, allowing foreign individuals and companies to acquire real estate in designated areas under a regulated framework designed to enhance market efficiency and advance the nation’s Vision 2030 objectives.
The reforms also align with Saudi Arabia’s broader housing strategy, which aims to raise the national homeownership rate to 70 percent by the end of the decade. The Real Estate Development Fund said the initiatives are intended to expand mortgage lending capacity and support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 homeownership target.
