350% increase in the number of existing units for “off-plan sale” within 3 months

3 hours ago

2 minutes read

350% increase in the number of existing units for “off-plan sale” within 3 months

Off-plan sales projects recorded exceptional growth during the third quarter of 2025, while the number of Existing units increased by more than 350% on an annual basis.

According to the The Saudi Real Estate Sector issued by the General Real Estate Authority. This expansion reflects the acceleration of development activity and the confidence of developers in future demand, in addition to the role of regulatory frameworks in stimulating this type of projects as one of the engines of residential and investment supply.

Riyadh is a development center of gravity

On the geographical level, the city of Riyadh has emerged as a non-trading development center of gravity, and has captured the largest share of off-plan sales activity with a total of 21,084 units. List.

This came against a clear decline in the number of Residential sales increased by 43.6%, reflecting its transformation into a major workshop on the supply side through new projects, while secondary market activity declined due to price saturation.

This indicates that future growth in Riyadh will be driven by adding new supply and not recycling existing assets.

Structural shift

The third quarter of 2025 showed a clear structural shift in real estate market behavior, while the movement is no longer driven by speculation or demand for real estate. Ready-made units have become a direct reflection of the high cost of financing and price saturation, which prompted demand to search for more flexible and lower-cost alternatives.

This shift was evident in the effect of substitution, as the decrease in individual financing for ready-made units and the decline in spot market transactions led to a qualitative jump in off-plan sales activity, both in terms of the number of units and their value, supported by strong growth in the output of construction activities, which indicates the market’s transition from trading existing assets to creating new assets.

Market Rent

At the same time, rental market data revealed a remarkable economic paradox, and the standard index of rental prices rose by 1.3%, while the total value
of residential rental deals decreased by 49.1%.

This behavior reflects the tendency of beneficiaries towards adapting to price inflation by reducing the size of units or moving to less expensive alternatives, which indicates the flexibility of demand and not its contraction, but rather its reshaping to suit price pressures.

Residential and commercial deal data showed a corrective pattern in market quality, and the number of deals increased significantly, while the total value stabilized or decreased.
This confirms that the market is moving away from unjustified price inflation, and the transfer of liquidity from large deals of a speculative nature to smaller, more realistic and widespread deals.

A healthy indicator

This pattern is a healthy indicator of market maturity, as liquidity has begun to move horizontally across a larger number of deals instead of being concentrated in limited deals.