Saudi residential mortgage market may maintain momentum after VAT exemption

Saudi residential mortgage market may maintain momentum after VAT exemption

Riyadh - Mubasher: Saudi Arabia's resilient residential mortgage market is expected to maintain momentum following the recent move by the Saudi government to exempt property deals from 15% value-added tax (VAT) and instead impose a new 5% tax on transactions, JLL's third-quarter (Q3) KSA real estate market performance report found.

The government has also scrapped the tax from first-time home-buyers of properties worth up to SAR 1 million, a move predicted to encourage first time home buyers and support the Vision 2030 goal of raising homeownership to 60% by the end of 2020 and 70% by the end of 2030.

"In addition to the positivity injected by the recent government measures, the residential sector also showed strong construction activity in