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Saudi Arabia’s real estate market entered September 2026 with a clearer divide between transaction activity and development momentum.
Property sales remained below last year’s levels, particularly in parts of the residential market, as affordability continued to influence buyer behavior. At the same time, the volume of new development did not slow at the same pace. Major residential projects moved forward in Riyadh and Madinah, Jeddah added new construction activity, PIF launched a large coastal destination in Al-Khafji, and property registration continued to expand across the Kingdom.
The result is a market that is becoming more selective rather than simply weaker.
For investors, the September data shows why Saudi Arabia can no longer be treated as one uniform property market. Riyadh apartments, villas, residential land, Jeddah transactions and Eastern Province development are now moving at different speeds.
Here are the main Saudi Arabia real estate developments from September 2026.
Table of Contents
Saudi Real Estate Transactions Fell 15% in August
The most important transaction data published during September showed that the value of Saudi real estate deals reached SAR 24.4 billion in August 2026.
That was 15% lower than the SAR 28.7 billion recorded in August 2025.
Residential transactions accounted for SAR 17.9 billion, down 8% year on year, while non-residential transactions fell 29% to SAR 6.5 billion. Residential property therefore represented approximately 73% of total transaction value during the month.
The number of transactions also declined. Around 24,030 property deals were completed during August, compared with approximately 25,770 a year earlier.
The figures confirm that Saudi Arabia is still working through the slower residential cycle that became visible earlier in 2026.
But the composition of the market is becoming increasingly important.
Residential land remained the largest segment by value, accounting for around SAR 7.8 billion in August transactions. Apartments generated approximately SAR 3.15 billion and villas around SAR 3.03 billion.
Villa transaction volumes actually increased 21% year on year even though their total transaction value was broadly flat, suggesting greater activity at lower average ticket sizes.
That distinction is important. Lower total market value does not necessarily mean every segment is experiencing the same decline.
Riyadh Still Dominates Saudi Property Liquidity
Riyadh remained the largest real estate market in the Kingdom during August.
The Riyadh region generated approximately SAR 9.3 billion in transactions, representing 38.2% of total Saudi real estate deal value.
Makkah followed with around SAR 7.2 billion, while the Eastern Province generated approximately SAR 3.7 billion.
Riyadh also accounted for 27.6% of the total number of transactions completed across the Kingdom.
This concentration continues to show how central the capital remains to Saudi Arabia’s property market, but September data also reinforces the limits of treating Riyadh as a single market.
Different residential formats are beginning to behave very differently.
Riyadh Apartment Prices Rose While Villa Values Fell
Knight Frank’s latest Saudi residential analysis, published on September 15, showed a clear split between apartments and villas in Riyadh.
Apartment values increased 3.1% year on year during Q2 2026.
Villa values, by contrast, declined 2.2%.
National residential transaction volumes reached 45,740 during the quarter, 12% below Q2 2025 but 9% higher than Q1 2026.
This is one of the most useful signals in the September market data.
Saudi Arabia’s residential market is no longer moving in one direction. Buyers are responding differently depending on product type, price point and location.
Apartments remain more accessible to a larger pool of buyers, particularly in Riyadh, where high land values have increased the cost of larger residential formats.
Villas, meanwhile, are more exposed to affordability pressure because of their higher absolute purchase prices and larger land component.
That does not make apartments universally stronger investments or villas structurally weak. It shows that the market is becoming more price-sensitive.
Rental Activity Is Moving in the Opposite Direction
While property sale values declined in August, the rental market recorded strong growth.
The value of rental transactions reached approximately SAR 10.6 billion, up 32% from the same month in 2025.
Residential rental transaction value increased 28% to SAR 5.6 billion, while non-residential rental activity rose 37% to approximately SAR 5 billion.
The number of rental transactions increased even faster, rising 37% year on year to more than 446,000.
Residential rental contracts reached approximately 309,000, up 35%.
This divergence between the sales and rental markets is worth watching.
A slower purchase market does not automatically reduce demand for housing. In an environment where buying becomes more expensive or financing conditions limit affordability, households can remain in the rental market for longer.
For investors, that means residential sales volumes and rental demand should be analyzed separately rather than treated as two versions of the same market indicator.
The Eastern Province Is Becoming More Important
One of the broader themes emerging in September was the growing role of the Eastern Province.
Transaction activity remains smaller than Riyadh or Makkah, but the region is receiving increasingly significant development investment.
Knight Frank reported stronger residential activity in the Dammam Metropolitan Area during Q2, while September brought one of the most important new PIF real estate announcements of the year.
PIF launched Gulf Coast Development Company on September 7 to develop a major residential and tourism destination in Al-Khafji.
The project will cover around 20 square kilometers and include approximately 10 kilometers of waterfront along the Arabian Gulf.
Plans include eight residential neighborhoods, more than 16,000 housing units and around 1,400 hotel keys, together with tourism, commercial, educational and public facilities.
The first development phase is scheduled for completion in 2030.
Al-Khafji is particularly notable because it sits far from the markets that normally dominate discussions about Saudi real estate.
Its location close to Kuwait gives the development potential demand not only from Saudi residents but also from neighboring Gulf markets.
The project is another indication that Saudi Arabia’s development pipeline is becoming geographically broader.
Large-scale investment is no longer concentrated only in Riyadh, Jeddah and the best-known giga-project locations.
Madinah Adds Another Major Residential Project
Madinah also added significant new residential supply to its development pipeline in September.
Dar Al Majdiah Real Estate, Knowledge Economic City and Capital Hill agreed on a framework for a new residential and commercial project in Knowledge Economic City.
The planned development has an estimated cost of around SAR 2.8 billion and includes approximately 2,700 apartments for sale.
It will also contain around 8,000 square meters of net leasable commercial space and more than 3,500 parking spaces.
Knowledge Economic City expects project revenue to exceed SAR 4 billion.
The structure of the deal is also notable.
Knowledge Economic City will contribute land to the proposed investment fund, while Al Majdiah will provide capital and act as development manager. Capital Hill is expected to establish and manage the fund.
That model reflects another increasingly important feature of Saudi real estate: larger projects are becoming more sophisticated not only in design but also in financing and ownership structure.
Riyadh Keeps Adding Residential Supply
Development activity also continued in Riyadh during September.
The Ministry of Municipalities and Housing signed agreements for four housing projects in the capital, adding to the government’s broader effort to increase residential supply.
This comes as Riyadh continues to deal with the consequences of several years of strong population growth and rising housing demand.
The capital remains the center of Saudi Arabia’s corporate relocation push, infrastructure expansion and large-scale urban development.
That has supported property demand, but it has also pushed affordability to the center of housing policy.
The government’s response increasingly combines several tools: new residential land, housing projects, supply programs and measures intended to reduce excessive pressure on rents and land prices.
For investors, the important point is that Riyadh’s future performance will depend not only on demand growth but also on how quickly new supply reaches the market.
Jeddah Development Activity Remains Strong
Jeddah also continued to attract major development investment.
On September 15, Saudi Real Estate Company, known as Al Akaria, signed a SAR 463.1 million construction contract with MOBCO for the Porta Jeddah project.
The agreement adds to an already substantial pipeline of residential, hospitality and mixed-use development across Jeddah.
The city remains structurally different from Riyadh.
Riyadh is primarily being driven by population growth, corporate relocation, government investment and office demand.
Jeddah has a stronger combination of residential demand, tourism, hospitality, waterfront development and access to western Saudi Arabia’s religious tourism economy.
That difference is likely to become more relevant as Saudi investors increasingly compare cities rather than simply allocating capital to the national market as a whole.
Property Registration Is Expanding Across the Eastern Province
September also brought another step in the expansion of Saudi Arabia’s real estate registration system.
REGA announced a new phase of real estate registration covering 36,090 property plots across the Eastern Province and Hail.
Of these, 30,838 plots are located in the Eastern Province. Registration began on September 27 and is scheduled to continue through December 31, 2026.
The new areas include locations in Dammam, Dhahran, Abqaiq and Al-Khafji, among others.
This may appear less visible than a new residential project, but it is one of the structural changes that matters most for the long-term development of the market.
Formalized property records make ownership easier to verify, improve transaction transparency and create stronger infrastructure for mortgages, transfers and property rights.
For a market that is simultaneously opening more areas to foreign capital, improving title and registration infrastructure becomes increasingly important.
Saudi Real Estate Is Becoming More Selective
September reinforces a trend that has been developing throughout 2026.
Saudi real estate is still expanding, but the market is becoming harder to describe with one headline number.
Sales transaction values are lower than a year ago.
Rental activity is growing strongly.
Riyadh apartment values are still rising while villa prices have softened.
The Eastern Province is attracting more development capital.
Madinah continues to build a larger residential pipeline.
Jeddah remains active in major mixed-use and construction projects.
At the same time, the Kingdom continues to improve the institutional infrastructure behind property ownership and transactions.
For investors, this creates a more mature market but also a more complicated one.
The question is no longer simply whether Saudi real estate will grow.
The more useful questions are where new supply is being created, which residential formats buyers can still afford, how rental demand is changing and whether a specific project sits in the right location for the next phase of demand.
September 2026 Saudi Real Estate Market at a Glance
| Market Indicator | Latest Signal |
|---|---|
| August property transaction value | SAR 24.4 billion |
| Annual change in transaction value | -15% |
| Residential transaction value | SAR 17.9 billion |
| Residential rental transaction value | SAR 5.6 billion |
| Riyadh share of transaction value | 38.2% |
| Riyadh apartment values, Q2 | +3.1% YoY |
| Riyadh villa values, Q2 | -2.2% YoY |
| Al-Khafji new residential supply | 16,000+ homes |
| Madinah new project value | Approx. SAR 2.8 billion |
| New plots entering registration | 36,090 |
The numbers show why the Saudi property market in September cannot be reduced to either a growth or slowdown narrative.
Transaction liquidity has weakened compared with 2025, but rental activity, development spending and new project launches remain significant.
What to Watch in Q4 2026
The final quarter of 2026 will provide a clearer picture of whether the slowdown in transaction values is temporary or the beginning of a more prolonged normalization.
Riyadh will remain the most important market to watch.
If apartment prices continue to outperform villas while additional residential supply comes onto the market, the gap between different property formats could become even more pronounced.
Rental activity will also deserve closer attention. The strong August figures suggest that demand for leased property remains substantial even as purchase activity becomes more selective.
The Eastern Province is another area where the market may begin to look different by the end of the year. The new Al-Khafji development, stronger activity around Dammam and continued expansion of property registration all point toward a deeper regional market.
For developers, the challenge is also changing.
The Saudi market is moving beyond a phase where simply launching more units was enough to capture growth. Competition between projects is increasing, buyers are becoming more selective and large development pipelines require tighter control over pricing, inventory, sales and delivery.
That is likely to define the next stage of Saudi Arabia’s real estate cycle.
