Saudi PIF’s mortgage refinancing firm seeks foreign investors: report

Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC), recently launched by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is in “soft discussions” with foreign investors to help ease liquidity in the country’s real estate sector, the company’s CEO Fabrice Susini told Arab News.

The firm has already started talks with investors interested in the new market opportunity, he said.

“It’s not good enough simply to focus on the country and domestic investors. We want to have foreign investors interested in coming and investing into these loans or portfolios,” he added.

The demand for real estate financing is expected to cross SR500 billion ($133 billion) by 2026, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed Saudi officials.

SRC, which works under the auspices of the Ministry of Housing, is expecting to refinance up to $20 billion over the next five years, a move targeted to remedy the nation’s low mortgage penetration rate, Susini said.

Saudi Arabia plans to raise the rate of home ownership among citizens from 47 percent to 52 percent by 2020, as part of wider economic reforms in the Kingdom.