KSA sees ‘$1trln invested in real estate and infrastructure’

KSA sees ‘$1trln invested in real estate and infrastructure’

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) will see sustained property market growth, fuelled by Vision 2030 and the Iskan programme, with $1 trillion slated for real estate and infrastructure projects, said top ratings agency S&P Global Ratings.

At least eight new cities are planned, predominantly along the coast of the Red Sea, with more than 1.3 million new homes by end-2030. Numerous projects are also slated for existing main cities. With the ambitious target for Riyadh to become one of the 10 largest cities in the world, its population is projected to exceed 15 million by 2030 from around 8 million (2018 estimates).

Saudi Arabia's retail property market has a lot of long-term growth potential. Real estate will gain from various new programmes to provide local housing and invigorate the business and financial sectors via investments in commercial real estate, S&P said.

Winning sectors

Looking at sectors that stand to win from Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 S&P said energy, real estate, transport, tourism, health care, and digital infrastructure will see meteoric growth.

“It will fall to the debt-capital markets to support a large portion of these new opportunities, as the government and the banking sector alone will not be able to meet all the required