Home vs. Loans

Yazeed Alamoudi

English 113B

professor bieber

23 October 2012

 

Home vs. Loans

            There is always much debate whether owning a home is priority or is it just something we suffer to get but we don’t really need. Between the dreams of owning a home and the reality of renting one the Saudi dream come. Owning a home became a dream for most of the Saudi citizens. Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia is one of the richest oil countries in the world, owning homes became a major issue in the country. A growing population, low income comparing with houses prices and limited access and very long waiting list getting loans are the main reasons for this issue. The government should find very fast effective solutions to the problem since the problem has started long time ago and the country should buy SR 1.4 trillion in the next 10 years to catch up with housing development demands (menafn.com).

 The country has been facing this problem over the last ten years. Arabian business newspaper said that “Saudi Arabia needs 150,000 housing units annually as demand for residential property is soaring, while a long awaited mortgage law will not solve the top oil exporter's housing problem”. (arabianbusiness.com).

            Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest countries in the Middle East, and the population grows very fast in such a place. This growing population caused an issue for the country since they haven’t planed earlier for this growth. The country found itself shocked recently by the increasing number of citizens. The increasing in population shouldn’t be unexpected phenomenon since Saudi Arabia is one of the largest Muslim countries in the world .The country follow the Islamic religion  rules which encourage  people to have more kids and family. Also the religion allows men to have more than one wife –under some circumstances - that’s mean more kids and families. As a fast effective move to solve this issue, King Abdullh approved building 500,000 low cost housing units. According to specialists, that was a great late move which would help solving part of the problem, but it won’t solve it completely.

            Saudi citizens suffer from the big gap between their income and houses price. Recently, it became impossible to cover a house price without getting loans or saving money for couple of years. Getting loans also hard and citizens has to go throw a long waiting list. “Some subsidized loans were available through the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF), a state-funded entity. But they had a very long waiting list, and loan amounts were not necessarily sufficient to cover construction costs. As part of the fiscal package that was introduced earlier this year, the funding to the REDF was increased, and the loan amount rose. In addition, new mortgage legislation is expected to be passed soon, which should significantly improve the housing finance framework” (imf.org)

            There is too much social pressure when it comes to owning a house. In the Saudi culture, owning a home is very important thing that too many other things rely on. For example, owning a home is the first step to get marry in the country. Families are more likely to give their daughter to the man who owns a house. On the other hand, it’s almost became impossible to get marry if you don’t own one or you still renting. Owning homes issue effected young Saudi men in the first place. Nowadays, a hug number of Saudi men – since they are culturally responsible about owning homes- starting their life by taking loans from banks , and spending the rest of their life regretting marriage and buying for these loans.  Instead of being a dream, and place full of happiness, homes became a nightmare for Saudi. Renting an apartment or homes doesn’t seem like a great idea in the country for many reasons. The feeling of instability is the main reason why Saudi prefers to not rent. Changing in the prices from time to time, breaking the contract and dealing with the greediness of homes owners who force renters to sign and give them the right to change the price at any time.

Saudi houses are expensive because it is specially designed in a totally different way than the other hoses in the world. The design relies in some religious and culture aspects. For instance, female’s rooms are more likely to have a backyard view and usually the bathrooms are inside the room. That gives the female more freedom and her space. There are two main living rooms- or guest room as Saudi likes to call it- in most of the Saudi houses. One of the living rooms is usually located at the right side of the house, and it has its own entrance, while the other one is located at the left side of the house with another entrance. The purpose of this unique design is to separates men from women and to give women more privacy.  Many Saudis like to build a small room at the back yard of their houses so men can smoke hookah and watch soccer games without bothering women inside the house.

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Reuters. “Saudi needs 150,000 housing units a year-LaSalle”.                                                                                                               www.arabianbusiness.com/saudi-needs-150-000-housing-units-year-lasalle-357477.html. Wednesday, 20 October 2010 10:16 PM.

 

IMFSurvey Magazine. “Saudi Arabia Addressing Jobs, Housing as Economy Rebounds”.

    www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2011/int092111b.htm. September 21, 2011.

 

MENAFN Arab News. “Saudi Arabia needs to solve housing problem”.

    http://www.menafn.com/menafn/1093567816/Saudi-Arabia-needs-to-solve-housing-problem. Wednesday,10 October 2012.