The Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co. (SRC) signs a mortgage financing deal on Sunday to acquire a portfolio of home loans worth SR3 billion ($800 million) from the Public Pension Agency (PPA), as part of the goals under Vision 2030.
In a statement, the Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co. said that it aims at deploying over SR20 billion to buy mortgage portfolios from multiple lenders by the end of 2020. The kingdom has targeted growth of 60% in homeownership by year-end and 70% by the end of the decade.
PPA Gov. Mohammed Al-Nanhas said that the agreement will help the liquidity in the market and help them supply more mortgages enabling people to buy homes. The latest deal for the company had assets worth around SR2.25 billion at the end of 2019.
Over the years many Saudi citizens have complained about the unavailability and increase in housing expenses that arose because of low levels of mortgage provision. One of the important goals of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is to promote home ownership in the kingdom. Fabrice Susini, CEO of SRC, affirmed that the deal will provide liquidity to the Saudi real estate financing market, enabling lower prices and growth in the number of mortgage originations, thus aligning with the SRC’s goals of increasing homeownership rates.