Residential real estate finance provided by banks to individuals was down 41 percent year-on-year in April, according to data released by Saudi Central Bank.
New residential loans decreased to SR9.2 billion ($2.45 billion) in April from SR15.6 billion last year.
Houses make up the biggest portion of residential new mortgages with 64 percent or SR5.9 billion. Apartments and land follow with SR1.7 billion and SR1.6 billion respectively.
The highest decrease was reported in new land mortgages, which decreased by 60 percent in April, compared to the same period last year.
After witnessing around 74 percent monthly increase in March, new housing loans by Saudi banks saw a decline by around 40 percent in April, with land financing recording the highest drop.
The number of new mortgage contracts in April declined to 11,255 from 19,000 in March, and by 43 percent compared to the same period last year.
New residential loans granted by finance companies constitute only 2.3 percent of similar loans provided by Saudi banks and amounted to SR211 million in April this year.
These loans have also witnessed a year-on-year decline of 39 percent from SR343 million last year.
Houses, which constitute more than 50 percent of new retail housing loans by finance companies, had a yearly decline of 55 percent in April.
