Saudi Arabia is ranked as the second largest real estate market in the world, with an estimated investment of SR300 billion ($80 billion).

“JCCI and the Commerce Ministry agreed to append the title “real estate assessor” to a registered real estate broker who passes the training programme,” said Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) chairman Saleh Al-Turki was quoted as saying by Arab News.

The real estate assessment is an independent and honest estimate of the market value of a piece of real estate, but is different from fixing a price. The assessment is made in a scientific manner with due consideration of different factors without any bias to any party in a transaction or loan.

Turki also said that the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah was making a feasibility study concerning the launch of a specialization in real estate assessment.

The JCCI chairman said the chamber was striving to help the local real estate professionals develop their skills and be capable of collecting and analyzing market data using the latest accounting, statistical and engineering techniques.

“Scientific assessment is vital in the real estate sector which is passing through a boom in the Kingdom. The membership in the World Trade Organization and the entry of several regional and international companies into the local market have added to the importance of developing the assessment skill and raising its professional standards in order to regulate the real estate market,” he said.

He expected the real estate sector in the country to grow rapidly over the next few years for several reasons. They are the steep rise in oil prices, the launch of new economic cities and industrial zones and the increasing population.

According to a recent report of the Council of Saudi Chambers, investments in the Saudi real estate sector are set to grow at the rate of 2.9 percent in view of the fast population growth in the Kingdom. The real estate industry will achieve 6.7 percent growth over the next five years thanks to commercial and residential projects in addition to the demand for land and houses. – TradeArabia News Service