The Minister of Municipalities and Housing inaugurates Cityscape Global 2025 and announces the signing of real estate agreements worth more than 161 billion riyals.

Monday 08 June 2026
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His Excellency the Minister of Municipalities and Housing, Mr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, today inaugurated the Cityscape Global 2025 exhibition in Riyadh, which is being held under the slogan “The Future of Urban Living”, with wide participation from developers, investors and experts from various countries around the world.

At the beginning of his speech, His Excellency expressed his deepest gratitude and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Prime Minister, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz – may God protect them – for the unlimited support and empowerment they provide to the real estate and municipal sectors, which has strengthened the Kingdom’s position as a global model in urban development and consolidated the national transformation process in accordance with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

His Excellency affirmed that Cityscape has become a global Saudi platform that embodies the urban, architectural and economic development that the Kingdom has achieved, and offers investors quality opportunities in building smart cities and urban communities that are centered around people first.

He pointed to the fundamental shift in the role of the Saudi and international real estate developer, who has become a key partner in the modern cities industry, indicating that the contribution of construction and real estate activities reached 13.8% of the GDP until the second quarter of 2025, in addition to the sector’s direct impact on the labor market, where the contribution of construction and real estate activities to employment reached about 15.5% of the total jobs in the Kingdom.

He also explained that the five major cities will need more than 1.5 million housing units by 2030, including 731,000 units in Riyadh alone, confirming the Kingdom’s position as the largest urban development market in the region.

His Excellency the Minister announced the signing of real estate agreements and deals exceeding 161.2 billion riyals in the first two days of the exhibition, a record number that reflects the strength and vitality of the Saudi real estate market, stressing that the coming days will witness more deals and contracts in light of the great demand from local and international investors, and the continued momentum of urban projects in the Kingdom.

His Excellency explained that real estate financing in the Kingdom has witnessed rapid growth and great maturity, as the volume of real estate loans to individuals and companies reached about 961 billion riyals until the second quarter of 2025, and this contributed to raising the percentage of citizens owning homes to more than 65% by the end of 2024.

Al-Haqil also reviewed the development of the financing system, which includes subsidized loans, real estate funds, and institutional financing, in addition to financial and real estate technology solutions that have provided more diverse and attractive options for investors.

His Excellency explained that the legislative environment has become more attractive and transparent, with inflows of foreign direct investment in the construction and real estate sectors constituting 15.27% of the total in 2024, noting that the modernization of foreign ownership systems has boosted investor confidence and opened up the field wide for global companies to invest in cities and special economic zones.

He also confirmed that the General Authority for Real Estate is working on providing three key indicators, including price inflation, the rental-to-income ratio, and the vacancy rate, which will be available to the market during 2026 to enable investors to monitor price equilibrium and understand market movements more accurately.

Regarding real estate technologies, His Excellency the Minister affirmed that the Saudi real estate sector has transformed into a fully digital sector, adopting PropTech solutions. The use of artificial intelligence, modern construction methods, and augmented reality experiences in project planning and management.

He revealed the completion of the first coding process for a real estate title deed in the Kingdom, which is now being traded among investors under the supervision of the General Authority for Real Estate. He also announced the launch of the first global standards for coding real estate ownership, making the Kingdom one of the first countries to build a digital real estate infrastructure directly linked to official records before any transaction takes place. He explained that this transformation will broaden the investor base, increase market liquidity, accelerate the financing of development projects, and enable startups to innovate new solutions in property and facilities management and smart contracts.

Minister Al-Haqil concluded by emphasizing that the exhibition represents a national platform that reflects the Kingdom’s ambition to build smart cities and a global real estate economy based on innovation, efficiency and sustainability. He pointed out that the current edition of Cityscape has become a national real estate season that brings together developers and investors under one roof to see quality opportunities that shape the future of the sector. He noted the efforts made to make the exhibition a success and the contributions of the participants and speakers, calling for continued work to enhance the quality of life and build an urban future that befits the Kingdom’s ambitions.

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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia