The index includes housing, commercial and agricultural sectors
 

GASTAT: Real-Estate Prices Index Decreased During Q3, 2018

The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) released the report of Real Estate Price index for the third quarter, 2018 on the official website of the Authority www.stats.gov.sa 
 
   The real-estate price index has recorded a decline by (1.6%), compared to the previous quarter Q2 2018, where the indicator of the real estate price index reached (82.3) in the third quarter of 2018, compared to (83.6) in the second quarter of 2018. This decline can be attributed to the decrease in the main sectors composing the indicator: the housing sector (2.1%), the commercial sector (0.5%), and the agricultural sector (0.1%) compared to the second quarter of the current year.

   At the level of the housing sector, the third quarter of 2018 witnessed a decline in residential lands by (2.1%), compared to the previous quarter, where the villas, apartments and houses decreased by (1.4%), (2.0%), and (0.3%) respectively. On the other hand, residential buildings increased by (0.2%). Regarding the commercial sector, commercial plots decreased by (0.5%), compared to the previous quarter.  However, the agricultural sector witnessed a decrease by (0.1%) in agricultural lands.

  Additionally, the index is based on the data records about real-estate’s transactions available at the Ministry of Justice, and it is an important tool to support economic and statistical decision makers regarding the changes of property prices and future forecasts during different periods of time.  The index has three main sectors consisting of several types of real estate: housing sector which includes the following (plot of land, building, villa, apartment and house), commercial sector includes (plot of land, building, exhibition/ shop or commercial center), and the agricultural sector with only one category which is the agricultural land.

 It is worth mentioning that the real estate price index aims at finding accurate real estate statistical indicators that measure real estate market in Saudi Arabia according to universally recognized scientific norms and standards, and filling the gap of data in real estate sector. It is considered an essential tool to support entities which make economic decisions in this field, and to contribute to a development process in the real estate sector in order to achieve the vision of 2030.