SRC to raise $810m additional sukuk to boost home mortgages: CEO
Monday, 12 September 2022
RIYADH, Sept 11 (Arab News): Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co. is raising SR3 billion ($810 million) additional sukuk to boost home mortgages in the Kingdom, according to a top official.
In an exclusive with Arab News on the sidelines of the Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference in Riyadh last week, Fabrice Susini, CEO of SRC, said that the sukuk transactions will be closed soon.
"We expect to close the transaction (sukuk) either by the end of this week or the beginning of next week," he told Arab News last week.
Susini noted that the mortgage market has been experiencing tremendous growth since 2017.
"If I look at the numbers between 2017 and the second quarter of 2022, the number of mortgages has been multiplied by four. And the amount of mortgages granted by the banks, and the mortgage finance companies has been multiplied by three," said Susini.
He added: "There is a volume increase which is significant. That means you have more Saudis today who own a home, and that is a great achievement by the Ministry of Housing, and all stakeholders in the housing ecosystem."
Susini pointed out that the concept of Saudis regarding owning big luxurious homes is changing over recent years.
"Younger Saudis are realizing that they can be perfectly happy and have a nice livelihood in slightly smaller units, well-built and well-constructed. In a community, whether vertical or horizontal, slightly smaller, cheaper to maintain homes allow Saudis to have more money available to do something else. It is changing progressively," he said.
Susini added that SRC is a hybrid entity, privately owned by shareholders and receiving subsidies and grants given by the budget or the Public Investment Fund.
He added: "We have a role in public policy implementation. We are there to contribute to Vision 2030, making access to mortgages affordable to all citizens."
Susini added that SRC is trying to reduce the cost of mortgages, while the housing ministry is trying hard to reduce the cost of the land.