“Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, global lockdown and global travel coming to a standstill in 2020, the fundamentals of demand for real estate in the holy cities meant that the impact, albeit significant, was in the short and medium-term, as the fourth-quarter opening allowed the sector to make some recovery.”
–Talal Mahmood Malik al-Alawi, chairman and CEO of Alpha1Estates, on the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the Saudi real estate market, especially in Mecca and Medinah. The Ihsan al-Haramain Index, the influential index used to solely track Saudi-listed companies involved in real estate development in Makkah and Madinah, slumped by 7.6 percent, representing a 10 percent underperformance with the market. [Arabian Business]