Saudi Developers Delay Ppty Auctions After Sales Boom

Real estate development companies in eastern Saudi Arabia have postponed land auctions after the recent boom in real estate sales in the region, Abha-based Al Watan daily reports Saturday.

The market is saturated after the recent high level of sales, and needs time to absorb the extra liquidity, the daily quoted Saleh Al Dosari, a member of the real estate committee at the eastern province chamber of commerce and industry, as saying.

Mohammed Al Ghamedi, a local real estate marketer, said sales should resume after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, when investors will return to the market, according to the paper. Saudis have invested more than 12 billion Saudi riyals ($3.2 billion) in land auctions during the last two and a half months, the newspaper quoted him as saying.according to Zawya.

Ghamedi said that another reason for postponing the auctions is that the eastern province municipality has refused to allow some auctions until developers complete existing developments, Al Watan reports.