The Saudi real estate auction market is shifting towards electronic bidding, amid market changes and a decline in activity compared to previous periods, according to Abdulrahman Al-Faiz, director of the commercial and auctions 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 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 outside.

According to Al-Faiz, the auction sector has witnessed remarkable development recently, thanks to regulatory bodies, foremost among them the Assignment and Liquidation Center (Infaadh), which played an important role in organizing auction activities, improving their 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 released on Monday.

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

Sun, 19 2026

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

Regarding the volume of auctions carried out by Basma Real Estate, Al-Faiz said they vary greatly, noting that the largest was the sale of two raw plots of land 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 common share equivalent to about 10% of an apartment in the Al-Sahafah district in Riyadh, for less than 100,000 riyals.

The Assignment and Liquidation Center (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 Makkah with 25 auctions selling 297 assets, while the Eastern Province saw 12 auctions including 139 assets, and Qassim had 6 auctions selling 108 assets.

Asir saw 6 auctions selling 69 assets, and 6 auctions in Jazan including 53 assets, while Madinah saw 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 Borders selling 6 assets.