Residential rents in Jeddah have increased by an average of 14 percent so far this year, real estate consultants Jones Lang LaSalle said on Sunday.

Its Jeddah Real Estate Market Overview for Q3 2011 said the city’s residential sector had seen an “robust upward trend” between July and September.

Soraka Al-Khatib, co-head of Jones Lang LaSalle Saudi Arabia said: “The Jeddah market has seen a continued increase in land sales during 2011 as trading volumes and sale prices have picked up further during the last quarter.

“There is strong interest from developers to deliver additional residential supply to meet the city’s growing requirements.

King Abdullah’s announcement of additional funding for the affordable housing sector has had a positive impact on the Jeddah residential market, the report added.

Following this announcement, government related entities such as JDRUC and PPA are now planning to deliver more than 30,000 additional residential units across Jeddah over the next few years.

The report said there was also strong continued interest in the luxury segment of Jeddah’s residential market.

Al-Khatib added: “The strength of the Jeddah residential market is confirmed by the fact that most of the 16,000 units coming to the market over the remainder of 2011 have already been sold.”

The limited future supply pipeline and the city’s growing population is expected to drive prices and sustain demand throughout the remainder of 2011 and into 2012, he said.

Saudi Arabia has a fast growing population of 27 million people, most of whom are under the age of 30. Real estate service company Jones Lang LaSalle estimates annual demand for housing to be between 150,000 and 200,000 units per year.

The JLL report also said office rents are likely to reduce in 2012 once additional supply is released to the market.

The expected CBD supply pipeline will provide approximately 60,000 sq m of additional space to the current stock of 445,000 sq m by the end of 2012.

“As a consequence, the office market is expected to remain tenant favourable during the next two years,” the report said.

Jeddah’s retail centres continue to benefit from high occupancy rates and the majority of the new supply has already been preleased, JLL added.

Its report said retail sales have increased by more than 30 percent during the last eight months which demonstrates strong consumer spending.

The first three quarters of 2011 also showed a marked improvement in Jeddah’s hotel occupancies with rates increasing five percent year-on-year, the report added.

JLL said growth in business travel is expected to fuel hotel demand in the city.

Craig Plumb, head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle MENA said: “The SR500m economic stimulus package announced earlier in 2011 has sustained the Jeddah real estate market during 2011.

“With Saudi Arabia’s oil output having been boosted to offset lower supply from other MENA producers and oil prices remaining relatively stable over recent months, there is likely to be increased investment in the infrastructure and real estate sectors of the economy over the next 12 months.”

The cost of a three-bed home in Riyadh can cost more than four times that of a similar property in Jeddah, a new real estate price index for Saudi Arabia has showed. A house costing on average SR292,500 in Jeddah will sell for close to SR1.6 million in Riyadh, a difference of 447 percent, the new market data provided by Dubai-based Cityscape Intelligence (CI) revealed.

It said on Wednesday it was launching new statistics which not only compares real estate sales and leasing prices in eighteen areas across Jeddah and Riyadh, but also compares office and residential asset classes, tracking prices back to 2007. The index also showed that rental prices for apartments in Riyadh and Jeddah varied immensely.

For example rental prices of three bedroom apartments in Jeddah were on average SR24,000 per unit, while the same in Riyadh was SR52,000 per unit, a difference of 116 percent. “Choosing the right location could save potential investors thousands of dollars,” added Robertson.

The new projects database section on the index has more than 4,000 real estate projects with their status, construction value, completion date, and developer and contractors details listed. The database is updated weekly and covers projects from 2005 onwards in the Middle East, North Africa and India. (via arabianbusiness.com)

Updated (11/2010): A list of compound communities and housing residence in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. These compounds are located in various parts of Riyadh. Compounds are gated communites, with different types of housing units.

Most of these  communities where built in the Mid 70′s and 80′s. They provide recreational facilities like gyms, swimming pools and rec. centers.  Most provide shuttles to public places like malls and parks. They are also very secure, most residence are expat families.

You should keep in mind that compound housing units are very limited in Riyadh, therefore applying early is important. Currently, most people are on waiting lists of 6-12 months. Rent for compound villa is approx. between 95,000 SR to 250,000 SR annually. Studio Apt. can be anywhere from 15,000 SR to 25,000 SR annually.

Note: Make sure to sign up early for a villa at one of these compounds, waiting lists are long since there is a shortage of compounds in Riyadh enough to accommodate all those interested. Waiting lists are anywhere from 50 to 200 people.  (Riyadh international calling code: +966 01)

• AL HAMRA Tel: 249 0440 (Home of the British School, 220k – 260k waiting list)
• AL-ISSA COMP Tel: 491 8400 (40-50k annually)
• AL JAZEERA BADER Tel: 492 1135 (Milwah Al-Shammry)
• AL MOHAEYA COMPOUND (Boeing Compound) Tel: 482 1222 x 403, 410, 111, 666
• AL NAKHEEL RESIDENCE Tel: 470 4191 (Peter Howarth-Lees) (Takhassusi St, Near Dallah Hospital)
• AL-OLA #7 Tel: 460 8095 – 460 7704 (Olaya – Abdullah Hamdan St., between Thalateen & Tahliah)
• AL ROMAIZON Tel: 274 0917, 488 0533 (Behind Immam University)
• AL WAHA GARDEN VILLAGE Tel: 278 8414 x 1149 (Exit 10)

• AL YAMAMAH VILLAGE Tel: 401 2550 (Eastern Ring Road J16)
• ARAB INVESTMENT COMPOUND Tel: 482 3444, Fax:482 313169 (Diplomatic Quarter)
• ARABIAN HOMES Tel: 454 1888 (Prince Abdullah Street, Al-Mursalat)
• ARIZONA Golf Club Tel: 248 4444 (Cordoba Compound, 300k annually)
• ASASCO VILLAGE Tel: 419, 9000 or 419 0936 x 423 (Olaya)
• CREATORS REAL ESTATE Tel: 478 6708
• COFRAS COMPOUND Tel: 478 7434 (J30 Dammam Highway)
• CORDOBA OASIS VILLAGE Tel: 248 3471 (Nr British School)
• DELTA #1 & #2 Tel: 488 7611 x 245 (Opp. King Saud University)
• DHABAB GARDENS COMPOUND Tel: 463 1596 – 462 2392 – 462 6762 – 465 0513 (Elite Villas)
• DYWIDAG SAUDI ARABIA LTD Tel: 246 4144 x 153
• EID COMPOUND Tel: 248 3366 (Nr British School, 350k waiting list)
• EURO COMPOUND Tel: 478 0718 – 478 7381, Mobile- 055 27 28 36 ( 75k annually)
• EXPAT REAL ESTATE Tel: 454 0404
• FAL COMPOUND Tel: 248 5847(Exit 8 – Arizona 125k waiting list)
• GREEN CITY 470 8880 x 411(Prince Abdullah Street – Sheraton)
• KINGDOM CITY Tel: 275 0275 (Kingdom Hospital, Airport Road, 220k annually waiting list)
• NAJD VILLAGE Tel: 248 1040 x 513 (- Eid Villas)
• RIYADH VILLAGE (AKA PHILLIPS ERICCSON) Tel: 246 4900
• RABWA COMPOUND Tel: 493 1741 (J13 Eastern Ring Road/Kourais Road)
• RANCO VILLAGETel: 492 4411
• ROC COMPOUND Tel: 241 2800 (Al-Silay, Exit 16)
• SAHARA TOWERS Tel: 462 5666 (Olaya)
• SAUDI BRITISH BANK Tel: 405 0677
• SUMMERLAND COMPOUND Tel: 454 9152 (Old Airport Road, King Fahad Rd.)
• SEDAR VILLAGE (155k annually)
• VILLAS ROSAS Tel: 482 4417 (Diplomatic Quarter)
• NAJACO COMPOUND RENTAL LISTINGS
• GARDENIA COMPOUND
• STAR BAE COMPOUND
• PARK VIEW VILLA COMPOUND
• AL FARAZDAK COMPOUND
• AL FAISALIAH RESIDENCE