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Saudi real estate developer ROSHN plans to build apartments, a shift from its focus on large villa and townhouse compounds as it looks to reach a broader base of homebuyers. The PIF-backed company expects to start marketing apartments next year and sees demand coming from first-time buyers and smaller households, Shaun Macnamara, ROSHN’s executive director of sales, told Semafor.
The developer currently sells properties ranging from three-bedroom villas starting at around 1.2 million Saudi riyals ($320,000), to five-bedroom, seven-bathroom homes for 3.2 million riyals. Property prices in Riyadh have surged nearly 40% for villas and 75% for apartments since 2019, according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank, driven by a lack of supply and a growing population.
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ROSHN is tasked with building around 400,000 new homes across the country by 2030, part of a nationwide goal of boosting Saudi homeownership to 70% by the same year. The kingdom needs to build roughly 115,000 new homes per year until 2030 to meet demand from its growing population.
The developer is transforming the northern part of Riyadh into a glitzy, modern version of itself, featuring integrated communities that include schools as well as entertainment and commercial districts. ROSHN aims to house more than 2.2 million people by the end of the decade.
Its offerings differ from the housing stock that has come to define the kingdom: walled-off villas with maximum privacy. ROSHN projects like SEDRA in Riyadh and ALAROUS in Jeddah — which drop the privacy walls and have parks, communal facilities, and walkable neighborhoods — were built with the intention of encouraging more interactions among residents.
Saudi grandparents “used to know their neighbors,” Macnamara said. “Then we went through this period of people locking themselves away. We’re trying to bring back that idea of shared space.”
In targeting a new generation of buyers, ROSHN is leaning on digital tools to market its portfolio with virtual tours, online financing approvals, and AI-led customer service, Macnamara said.
Notable
- Saudi Arabia’s plan to boost homeownership among younger citizens may drive up prices for apartments, which are already in high demand, according to AGBI.
- Housing is unaffordable for the average Saudi, the Financial Times reported, raising concerns about widening inequality.