2026-08-25
Real Estate Market Reaches SAR 3 Trillion While Real Estate Funds Reach SAR 140 Billion
Riyadh Chamber, represented by its Real Estate Committee, organized a meeting as part of its Ramadan Committee Meetings series titled "Real Estate Investment Funds and Their Role in the Real Estate Market." The meeting was held on the evening of the day before yesterday, in the presence of Mohammed AlMurshid, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Riyadh Chamber and Chairman of the Real Estate Committee, along with a number of real estate sector professionals, specialists, and investors.
The meeting featured Nader AlOmari, a member of the Real Estate Committee, and Sultan AlQusayr, Head of Alternative Investments at Alinma Investment, and was moderated by banking expert Talat Hafez. It aimed to introduce the various types of real estate funds, their objectives and investment advantages, and their future prospects amid Saudi Arabia's economic development.
AlOmari explained that the emergence of real estate funds came as a natural extension of the development of capital markets. The total value of real estate funds reached approximately SAR 140 billion by the end of 2021, noting that the majority of this financial volume had been accumulated in recent years, confirming the growth of this investment product and the market's increasing acceptance of it.
He emphasized that real estate investment funds are expected to play a leading role in driving development in the real estate sector for several reasons, including their role as a link, separation mechanism, and layer of security between regulatory authorities, investors, developers, and end consumers.
He also stressed that the success of real estate funds depends on the capabilities of the fund manager's team, their accumulated expertise, integrated relationships with relevant entities, and their ability to make appropriate decisions with agility.
For his part, AlQusayr explained that the concept of real estate investment funds is based on the deployment of capital. From a regulatory perspective, these funds are divided into private placement funds, public offering funds, and REITs.
He said private placement funds are the most widespread, with assets of approximately SAR 8 billion. Public offering funds, meanwhile, are less common and fewer in number, with their total assets reaching approximately SAR 100 billion.
Regarding REITs, he noted that they, along with private real estate funds, have continued to grow. He pointed out that the total value of real estate funds, estimated at approximately SAR 140 billion to date, remains relatively small compared with the overall Saudi real estate market, whose value is estimated at around SAR 3 trillion.
The meeting featured Nader AlOmari, a member of the Real Estate Committee, and Sultan AlQusayr, Head of Alternative Investments at Alinma Investment, and was moderated by banking expert Talat Hafez. It aimed to introduce the various types of real estate funds, their objectives and investment advantages, and their future prospects amid Saudi Arabia's economic development.
AlOmari explained that the emergence of real estate funds came as a natural extension of the development of capital markets. The total value of real estate funds reached approximately SAR 140 billion by the end of 2021, noting that the majority of this financial volume had been accumulated in recent years, confirming the growth of this investment product and the market's increasing acceptance of it.
He emphasized that real estate investment funds are expected to play a leading role in driving development in the real estate sector for several reasons, including their role as a link, separation mechanism, and layer of security between regulatory authorities, investors, developers, and end consumers.
He also stressed that the success of real estate funds depends on the capabilities of the fund manager's team, their accumulated expertise, integrated relationships with relevant entities, and their ability to make appropriate decisions with agility.
For his part, AlQusayr explained that the concept of real estate investment funds is based on the deployment of capital. From a regulatory perspective, these funds are divided into private placement funds, public offering funds, and REITs.
He said private placement funds are the most widespread, with assets of approximately SAR 8 billion. Public offering funds, meanwhile, are less common and fewer in number, with their total assets reaching approximately SAR 100 billion.
Regarding REITs, he noted that they, along with private real estate funds, have continued to grow. He pointed out that the total value of real estate funds, estimated at approximately SAR 140 billion to date, remains relatively small compared with the overall Saudi real estate market, whose value is estimated at around SAR 3 trillion.