The Real Estate Registry covers 10 regions in Saudi Arabia, with over 4.9 million properties ready for registration, according to Yazeed Al-Nasser, Director of Media Relations at the Real Estate Registry, speaking to 'Al-Eqtisadiah'.

Al-Nasser explained that it has so far issued more than 1.8 million ownership registration deeds, noting that property owners' awareness accelerates the registry's goal of registering 80% of Saudi properties by 2028.

The Real Estate Registry works with 22 government entities that intersect with the real estate sector, through more than 100 software interfaces to transfer information and unify property data in the property sheet.

In-kind registration is mandatory and includes all properties.

He stated that in-kind registration includes all properties regardless of their type: commercial, industrial, agricultural, residential, whether land, building, or housing unit.

He explained that the registry is continuously working to expand the announced scopes and areas.

To facilitate communication with beneficiaries, Al-Nasser said: 'We have simplified inquiry procedures to enable owners to know whether their property is announced or not.'

Transfer of Riyadh jurisdiction and successful experience

Al-Nasser revealed that about three months ago, the jurisdiction of properties in Riyadh was transferred from the Ministry of Justice to the Real Estate Registry, describing the experience as 'successful and positive'.

He added: 'We expect additional cities to follow the same experience, where the jurisdiction of real estate transactions will be transferred from the Ministry of Justice to the Real Estate Registry successively, so we encourage people to take the initiative to register.'

He pointed out that there is no specific time frame to complete the transition, explaining that the transfer of records occurs after a large percentage of registration is completed to ensure beneficiaries are not affected or their transactions delayed.

He added that executing any real estate transaction after a region transitions to the Real Estate Registry system requires completing in-kind registration first.

In-kind registration is a system for recording property ownership based on the property itself as the basic unit, not just the owners' names. Each property receives a property sheet and an ownership registration deed detailing all its data, rights, and obligations.

Al-Nasser said the Real Estate Registry is developing the 'Real Estate Registry Business' platform aimed at the business sector, including financing entities, banks, and real estate developers.

He added that the platform aims to be the main gateway for real estate sector procedures, contributing to simplifying and accelerating them.