RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will require one new million homes in the next 10 years as demand in the Kingdom’s rapidly expanding cities intensifies.
A report by real estate group Colliers said growing demand in the capital Riyadh and other large cities such as Jeddah, Dammam and Khobar was being driven by "new Saudi" and "non Saudi" households.
Colliers said 628,000 homes, around 63 percent, were likely to be generated by demand from this sector of the population.
Riyadh is forecast to account for almost half of the demand - 48 percent.
The population of the capital has risen from just one million people in 1981 to more than 7 million today.
In the last five years, the Saudi Ministry of Municipal Rural Affairs and Housing has made it easier for developers to attract private investment by simplifying regulations.
Across the Kingdom’s four major cities, the number of families is expected to rise to about 2.88 million by 2030, compared to 2.31 million last year.
