By Fatima Al-Kashef

Real estate prices in Saudi Arabia emerged from contraction during the second quarter of 2026, rising 1.3% year-on-year, after declining 1.6% in the first quarter, driven by a shift in residential sector prices towards growth led by land.

The news is based on a report from the Saudi General Authority for Statistics and was released on Monday.

Residential Sector X Commercial

Residential sector prices rose 2.6% year-on-year in the second quarter, compared to a 3.6% decline in the first quarter.

Residential land saw the most significant change, with prices rising 6.3% after falling 3.9% over the same period.

In contrast, commercial real estate reversed the trend between the two quarters, declining 3.2% after rising 3.4%.

Other figures from the report

Property prices rose 3% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter, compared to a 0.2% decline in the first quarter, with residential sector prices climbing 3.7% and residential land prices rising 6.1%.

Villa prices bucked the trend of the residential sector as a whole, deepening their annual decline to 9.7% from 6.1% in the first quarter, while apartment prices reversed from a 1.1% decrease to a 1.1% increase.

The agricultural sector maintained its annual growth, although the pace of price increases slowed to 11.3% in the second quarter from 11.8% in the first quarter, driven in both periods by the same percentage increase in agricultural land prices.

At the regional level, real estate prices in the capital, Riyadh, reversed their trend to rise by 4.2% year-on-year, compared to a decline of 4.4% in the first quarter.

Al-Jawf recorded the highest increase among the regions in the second quarter at 10.4%, while Hail recorded the largest decrease at 10.1%.

(Prepared by: Fatima Al-Kashef, Edited by: Yasmin Saleh, Contact: zawya.arabic@lseg.com)