The real estate auction market in Saudi Arabia is shifting towards electronic bidding, amid market changes and a decline in activity compared to previous periods, according to Abdulrahman Al-Fayez, director of the commercial and auction sector at Basma Real Estate, told Al-Eqtisadiah.

He said that the company, like other real estate companies, continues to hold auctions, but the sales rate has declined compared to the previous period due to market changes, considering that the success of auctions depends on aligning prices with current market levels.

He pointed out that this shift has contributed to reducing operational costs and expanding the base of participants, as buyers can now enter auctions from various regions of the kingdom, and even from abroad.

The auction sector, according to Al-Fayez, has witnessed remarkable development recently, thanks to regulatory bodies, foremost among them the Center for Assignment and Liquidation (Infaadh), which played an important role in organizing auction work, raising its efficiency, and increasing transparency in procedures.

Sun, 24 2026

The real estate price index in Saudi Arabia rose by 1.3% in the second quarter of this year on an annual basis, after recording a decline for two quarters, according to data from the General Authority for Statistics issued on Monday.

The data attributed the rise to a 2.6% increase in residential sector prices, driven by a 6.3% rise in residential land prices, while apartment prices rose 1.1%. In contrast, the decline in villa prices by 9.7% limited this increase.

Sun, 19 2026

Al-Fayez said that the company is currently preparing to organize two new auctions, the first in Riyadh and the second in the central area of Medina.

Regarding the volume of auctions conducted by Basma Real Estate, Al-Fayez said they vary widely, noting that the largest was the sale of two raw plots in the Qurtuba district in Riyadh with a total value of about 1.6 billion riyals about a year ago.

The area of the first plot was 130,000 square meters, at a price of 4,550 riyals per square meter, while the area of the second plot was 230,000 square meters, at a price of 4,100 riyals per square meter.

He added that the smallest auction was the sale of a shared share equivalent to about 10% of an apartment in the Al-Sahafa district in Riyadh, for less than 100,000 riyals.

The Center for Assignment and Liquidation (Infaadh) supervised the holding of 101 real estate auctions last June, selling 1,131 real estate assets, including residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial, in various Saudi regions.

Riyadh topped with 31 auctions including 326 assets, followed by Mecca with 25 auctions selling 297 assets, while the Eastern Province saw 12 auctions including 139 assets, and Qassim with 6 auctions selling 108 assets.

Asir held 6 auctions selling 69 assets, 6 auctions in Jizan including 53 assets, while Medina held two auctions selling 39 assets, Tabuk 4 auctions for 32 assets, in addition to two auctions in Al-Jouf selling 20 assets, and two auctions in Hail selling 14 assets.

In Najran, the center supervised one auction selling 16 assets, in addition to 3 auctions in Al-Baha region including 12 assets, and one auction in the Northern region selling 6 assets.