Seminars & Lectures

The seminars and lectures conducted by Mr. Ayedh Al-Qahtani, the president of Al-Oula Development, and which he sought to hold at the Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Qasim, as well as Riyadh Real Estate Exhibition and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals were a success and he won many awards.

Al-Qahtani’s lectures were attended by hundreds of persons who are interested in the real estate sector and they focus on finding innovative methods for marketing generally and for real estate marketing particularly from the practice perspective. He also talked about the first marketing experience of Al-Oula and evoked some marketing methods that became well-rooted in the Arab and gulf markets.

In his lectures, Al-Qahtani also discussed the real estate boom witnessed in the kingdom, the available opportunities and potentials to consolidate the growth and the real estate development in the region and the real estate contributions.

He also talked about the current situation of the real estates in KSA, which he described as currently good and enjoy several characteristics, particularly during the past period, as many property purchases and sales were executed at the level of the kingdom in general, and he pointed out that the real estate market became profitable for investors in this current period and will continue like this in the upcoming period.

He added that the real estate sector in the kingdom is eligible for greater development in the future as some big real estates projects have been announced and other projects that will be announced in the near future, and he clarified that it has become evident that there are an increasing activity, a continuous revival and a significant growth in the real estate industry in the kingdom across the different regions.

He indicated that the real estate sector is registering a big growth compared with the other sectors, particularly as new companies have participated in the competition for launching real estate projects, which is considered a new incentive to the growth of the real estate market. As a matter of fact, many projects estimated to be hundreds of millions riyals were launched during the past period.

He demonstrated that the real estate sector registered a considerable growth and giant leaps when huge capitals were injected in the real estate sector, in addition to the provision of new products in this sector and which may be invested therein.

On the other hand, Al-Qahtani mentioned four axes that included the phases of real estate development, the characteristics of the Saudi economy and its relation with the real estate, its current situation and its future as an industry, noting that it went through five preliminary phases since the discovery of oil until the boom experienced by the kingdom, outlining as well its path that fluctuated between growth and temporary stagnation, showing the influence that the industrialists and traders have on the real estate market and the differences between the two markets.

Al-Qahtani also pointed out at the repercussions of the second Gulf war on the real estate market, notably in the eastern region, which improved afterwards, and he noted the repercussions of September 11 when capitals remained in the country and the liquidity flowed in the banks; then he pointed at the yields of investments in the real estate and stocks, describing the industrial investment as having long term revenues.

He evoked the most prominent characteristics of the economy and its positive repercussions as well as the repercussions of the external events on the real estate path, showing that the richest people earn their money from the real estate domain as it is a fixed asset.

He said that the statistics show that 30% of the nationals own residences and 70% don’t have properties, therefore the middle class who owns residences is the target of the real estate sector, and this paves the way for building the future on the basis of positive variations.

He also talked about steps that supported the emergence of economic aids such as tourism and allowing the residents to become owners; and he called for the organization of the fund market as he expressed his aspirations for the contribution of the real estate development fund. He pointed out that it is important to have young real estate people in shifting from land development to quarters’ development, stressing on the need of this sector for systems.

He called for a greater role to be assumed by the chamber of commerce in this direction and prompted for admitting and helping youngsters as they are considered the nucleus, and for benefiting from the exploitation of women savings as there are not specialized companies that allow payment by installments.

He indicated that there is a study to serve the real estate market and he linked the success of tourism and the real estate, and mentioned that it is important to have a reference over the next 20 years. He called for the funding companies to support the state and the encouragement of the professional cadres in real estate.

He also welcomed the independence of development in every region and the establishment of a higher commission therein equally to the commissions existent in some regions, indicating that it’s necessary that universities contribute in finding specializations in real estate domain as it is the case in morocco.

Ayedh Al-Qahtani confirmed that the biggest real estate markets in the region are the Saudi market in which most companies seek to take their shares because it is a very promising market according to the economic and real estate studies and researches showing a rise in the growth rates and which are considered the highest.

He indicated that the real estate market is expected to change the market and find a new ideology and a modern concept to study the actual developmental work in the kingdom by building residential and commercial projects and towers and by developing the quarters and building the cities, which helps in creating an actual market for real estate like Riyadh city, for example, that is witnessing a rise in the prices of commercial offices and residential buildings, and this shows that the supply is scarce and the demand is on the rise.

He confirmed that the future of the real estate market relies on three axes that are the needs, the roads and the incentives, which, if available, they would help greatly the real estate to preserve its boom in the kingdom.

He demonstrated that the market needs a particular framework to run business properly and clearly in the market and also a mechanism that allows and attracts investors to the real estate investments.

He also indicated that the market should not be left until the occurrence of problems and obstructions and then start to find solutions, insisting on the necessity to help in establishing an accredited official authority for the real estate sector to help solve its problems and run its businesses in a way that guaranties the rights of investors and workers in one of the most important economic sectors in the country, whose volume of business exceeded trillion riyals, which shows that investors and businessmen are increasingly interested in the real estate sector.

He indicated that the Saudi real estate market will witness during the two coming years a continuous boom, that all the indicators prove it as per the data obtained in the Saudi economy and which evolve around the rise in the commercial and industrial movement and the real estate market movement, in addition to the good movement and rise in the oil market that a number of experts confirmed that it will continue to rise during the coming period.

He added that the real estate market is of the most important commercial sectors in any economy, as in the United States for example, the real estate investment is considered of the biggest investments in the commercial sectors, and he indicated that the market of real estate bonds occupies the top rank.

He mentioned that the real estate market is not influenced by the decline as it is the case in any other sector, but goods in real estate remain for a long period, especially lands whose prices remain constant and rise over the years, and he added that it never happened that the land prices fell below their actual prices unless exceptionally, and this is due to the need of its owner to sell as it happens in the case of heirs who want to finish with the heritage by selling the land.

Al-Qahtani continued that the real estate market in the last period went through some phases that contributed greatly to its growth, of which the September 11 events that helped stopping the departure of capitals from the countries and injecting them in local investments.

Ayedh Al-Qahtani talked about the real estate movement in the kingdom taking the example of some old models in the real estate investment since its beginning, and especially the capability of investors to interact therewith and develop efficient systems, mechanisms and methods in dealing with the real estate contributions.

The Executive president of Al-Oula Development addressed the concentration on the mechanisms to submit contributions and the best ways to deal with them scientifically, and he showed that the current situation needs a bigger role to be assumed by the commercial banks because the real estate is directly connected with banks and financing, and whereas banks in the kingdom do not perform their roles and the banks had a great role in most of the real estate movements in the region through financing real estate projects and ideas.

He confirmed that the Saudi investor became a target for these states to attract his real estate investments by providing facilitations whether financial or real estate, and this in order to increase the movement and the boom, and they also offered him services and assistances to increase his confidence in those markets and consequently increase his investments in those countries.

He confirmed that the future lies in building residences as per demands, in addition to that the higher commission for tourism wishes to increase the work in this sector, which will reflect upon the real estate sectors to build resorts and tourist places that will help attract as many Saudi tourists as possible and increase the businesses in real estates in Mecca and Medina, which falls within the scope of the religious tourism.