Saudi Arabia Plans $6 Billion Surge in Mortgage Refinancing - Bloomberg:
Saudi Arabia’s first mortgage refinancing firm aims to raise its holdings of home-loan portfolios by 10 times this year, as a government push to boost home ownership spurs lending.
The Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company -- the state-owned equivalent of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the U.S. -- plans to buy more than 23 billion riyals ($6.1 billion) of mortgage portfolios from banks in 2020, Housing Minister Majed Al-Hogail said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Riyadh. That’s a sharp jump from the 2.25 billion riyals it held at the end of last year.
The target reflects “huge growth” in mortgage lending as officials try to raise home ownership from 62% to 70% by 2030, a goal of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s economic overhaul plan. Housing is a politically sensitive issue in Saudi Arabia, where some citizens complain about the costs of renting or being unable to afford a family home.
“We want to ensure that access to finance,” Al-Hogail said. “We see more mortgage loans in the personal loans and that’s all helping the whole market to move and close any shortage.”
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