Riyadh Property Market Faces Longer Sales Periods and Steeper Vendor Discounts

Homes and apartments in central Riyadh are now sitting on property websites for longer, with the days on market stretching to their highest levels since before the post-pandemic boom. At the same time, owners keen to close deals are increasingly slashing their initial asking prices, marking the sharpest vendor discounting seen since 2021, according to data reviewed this week by The Daily Riyadh.

This trend is emerging just as the city’s real estate market navigates a period of adjustment amid wider regional uncertainty and rising borrowing costs. For sellers in high-profile neighbourhoods like Olaya and the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD), the new reality is clear: buyers are taking their time and demanding bigger cuts before agreeing to transact. The combination is putting downward pressure on headline prices, even as population growth keeps long-term expectations high.

Olaya and KAFD Feel the Shift

Market insiders at Riyadh Properties Group and virtual tours platform Bayut.sa confirmed the slowdown is most pronounced around the capital's business and lifestyle core. In Olaya, home to the iconic Kingdom Centre and a host of newly built condo towers, the average listing now remains on the market for 64 days—up from just 43 days a year ago. The premium blocks of KAFD fared only slightly better, with apartments and penthouses languishing for 59 days on average, compared to 39 this time last year.

The lengthening timelines have direct consequences for vendors. More than 1 in 3 sellers in these top precincts are accepting offers at least 7 percent below their original asking price, according to transaction figures reviewed for May and June. For a typical two-bedroom in Olaya, this means shaving upwards of SAR 75,000 off a listing price that started around SAR 1.08 million. Agents who spoke on background attributed the uptick in discounting to a surge of listings and more cautious buyer sentiment, which has put sellers in active competition for attention.

Statistical Evidence and Market Implications

Newly released figures from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing show that Riyadh apartment volumes were up 14 percent on June 2026 compared to last year, even as completed sales dipped by 8 percent. The citywide median vendor discount—the gap between the first listing and final sale—hit 6.5 percent in Q2, its highest mark since late 2021. A senior analyst at the Riyadh Chamber’s real estate committee highlighted that similar patterns are playing out in midrange suburbs like Al Malaz and Al Muruj, where typical price cuts for villas now average SAR 120,000–150,000 per transaction. Buyers, meanwhile, face mortgage rates approaching 7.2 percent, up nearly two points from the lows of 2023.

What should prospective buyers and sellers take from the current market? For sellers, pricing realistically from day one and allowing for meaningful negotiation margins is now essential to avoid multi-month waits. Buyers, however, are in stronger negotiating positions than at any time in the past three years—especially in central blocks with high new supply. As the summer moves forward, both sides will be watching closely to see if government stimulus for first-home buyers or tweaks to loan eligibility can put a floor under prices as Riyadh’s urban transformation continues.