Saudi Arabia targets over $40bn in mortgage refinancing by 2030

Saudi Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail has announced that Saudi Arabia aims to achieve mortgage refinancing exceeding $40 billion by 2030.

Al-Hogail made the remarks during his address at the Ginnie Mae Global Affordable Housing Investors Summit 2026, held in Virginia, United States.

He explained that the Kingdom is working to develop the housing finance market and link mortgage financing to long-term capital sources, with the goal of enhancing market sustainability, expanding affordable housing options, and increasing cooperation with investors.

The minister noted that housing demand in Saudi Arabia is driven by a young population, highlighting that the homeownership rate among Saudi families rose from about 47% in 2016 to over 66% by the end of 2025, with a target of reaching 70% by 2030. He added that nearly one million families—around 25% of Saudi households—have benefited from housing support programs.

Al-Hogail stressed that developing a balanced housing market requires increasing supply, improving development efficiency, targeting support to those in need, providing diverse and competitively priced housing units, regulating landlord-tenant relations, enhancing transparency, and protecting the rights of all parties in off-plan sales.

He pointed out that rising global financing costs have affected families' purchasing power, emphasizing the importance of innovation in financing structures by diversifying liquidity sources, efficiently distributing risks, expanding the investor base, and developing long-term products with more stable costs for families.

Al-Hogail revealed that the size of the mortgage finance market in Saudi Arabia is about $260 billion, while mortgage refinancing operations amount to approximately $18.7 billion. He added that issuances by the Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company under its international sukuk program listed on the London Stock Exchange have exceeded $7.2 billion, with more than 300 investment institutions participating in the inaugural $2 billion issuance.

He noted that the Kingdom's housing finance ecosystem is built on five pillars: government guarantees, loan guarantees, securitization, financing services, and data unification. These contribute to enhancing liquidity, managing risks, expanding the investor base, and improving disclosure quality for financing portfolios.

The minister confirmed that the Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company aims to achieve over $40 billion in refinancing by 2030, offering investors opportunities to participate in Saudi fixed-income instruments and real estate securities, collaborate in securitization, guarantees, and data, and innovate new financing products and technologies for credit risk management.

Al-Hogail concluded by stating that Saudi Arabia offers a market supported by long-term housing demand, with evolving financing, guarantee, and service tools within a clear regulatory framework overseen by authorities such as the Saudi Central Bank and the Capital Market Authority. He invited investors to take part in developing the Kingdom's housing finance market.