Field of dreams

Field of dreams

A forecast of six real estate trends in Saudi Arabia for 2011 reminds Kipp of a Kevin Costner where unknown forces urged him to build a baseball field that will attract other-worldly players.

March 28, 2011 4:38 by Precious de Leon

2. Government leadership is a catalyst for real estate

The stimulus package and leadership initiatives provided by the government, will have a direct and indirect impact across real estate sectors. Directly, stimulus will be provided to the residential sector through large scale residential plans from initiatives like the General Housing Authority (500,000 units), National Guard (17,000 units), and GOSI (691 units).

Developing new residential communities creates opportunities for retail, which will be further supported by increased consumer spending enabled through recent salary adjustments. More generally, the stimulus will boost economic activity, create jobs, and boost demand for office space.

The government leadership also directly mandates the addition of new civic facilities with plans for 610 new schools and 12 new hospitals and health related facilities. The successful delivery of all of these initiatives will necessitate effective frameworks for implementation, which will require a diverse range of strategic partnerships with the private sector to ensure social goals are achieved.

3. Infrastructure is critical for realising real estate objectives

Investment in a world class transport infrastructure will create investment opportunities and underpin demand for real estate in KSA. Major long term investments in infrastructure and transport for Airports (6 projects, $6.7 billion (SR25bn)), Ports (2 projects, $3.2 billion (SR12bn)), and Railway (23 projects, $25.6 billion (SR96bn)) improve the competitive advantage, attract investment, and enable connectivity within the Kingdom, but also connectivity to the region with KSA as the core.

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