63,076 Saudi Families Move Into First Homes in the First Half as Job Placements Rise 23 Percent
63,076 Saudi families moved into their first homes in the first six months of 2026, and the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) helped 329,000 citizens into jobs over the same period, 23 percent more than a year earlier. Minister of Media Salman bin Yousef Al-Dossary set out both results at the 37th government press conference in Riyadh on Monday 12 October, describing housing as a key pillar of family stability. The exact housing count comes from the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing’s half-year figures, which the minister gave as more than 63,000. Both results had already been published in the summer, the housing count by the ministry on 26 July and the placements by the fund in mid-August.
He tied both to the priorities in the royal address, which listed expanding citizens’ employment opportunities and continuing the real estate reforms that widen housing options and make ownership easier. The White Land and Vacant Property Fees Law, he added, continues to encourage the development of unused land and to increase real estate supply.
First homes up by 19,076 on two years earlier
June alone accounted for 12,004 of the six-month total. On our calculation that is 17.5 percent above the 10,214 a month averaged from January to May, so the half ended faster than the pace of its first five months. The half-year figure is, on our calculation, 19,076 families, or 43.4 percent, above the 44,000 families that the Sakani programme said moved into their first homes in the first half of 2024. A half-year release of 3 August 2025 counted more than 48,000 families moving into their homes in the first half of that year, without the first-home wording.
Saudi families moving into their homes, first half of each year and June 2026
| Period | Families | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| First half 2024 | 44,000 | First homes |
| First half 2025 | More than 48,000 | Moved into their homes |
| First half 2026 | 63,076 | First homes |
| June 2026 | 12,004 | First homes |
Half-year releases of the Sakani programme (5 August 2024) and the housing ministry (26 July 2026), and the half-year release of 3 August 2025. The 2025 release did not specify first homes.
Supported housing contracts signed since the programme began in 2017 reached 1,046,890 by the end of June 2026. Occupancy certificates rose too: more than 38,000 were issued for buildings and facilities across the Kingdom in the first half, 55 percent more than a year earlier and an increase of more than 13,000, according to official figures published on 25 August. The count covers buildings and facilities of all kinds, not homes alone.
Ownership at 66.24 percent, 3.76 points from the 2030 goal
The share of Saudi households owning their home reached 66.24 percent at the end of 2025, according to the 26 July release behind the 63,076 count, against 47 percent in 2016. The Housing Program targets 70 percent by 2030. On our calculation, the rise of more than 19 points over nine years averages 2.1 points a year, and closing the remaining 3.76 points over the five years from 2026 to 2030 needs 0.75 points a year. The 2025 gain of 0.84 points was smaller than the 1.66 points added in 2024, and it still ran ahead of that required pace.
Saudi household homeownership rate
| Year end | Rate | Change in points |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 47% | Base |
| 2023 | 63.74% | +16.7 on 2016 |
| 2024 | 65.4% | +1.66 |
| 2025 | 66.24% | +0.84 |
| 2030 target | 70% | +3.76 still to go |
Year-end rates as published in July 2024, August 2025 and July 2026; the 2016 base as stated by Minister of Municipalities and Housing Majed Al-Hogail in January 2026. The 2023 change on 2016 is as published; the other changes are our calculation.
Ibrahim bin Mohammed Al-Sultan, Minister of State, member of the Cabinet and chief executive of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, told the same press conference that citizens are to receive 10,000 to 40,000 residential plots a year for five years, priced at no more than 1,500 riyals a square metre. On our calculation the programme spans 50,000 to 200,000 plots over the five years. The first year allocated more than 6.3 million square metres in 10,024 plots, an average, on our calculation, of more than 628 square metres a plot, and handover to the first beneficiaries will begin alongside preparatory infrastructure work in five fully serviced residential developments. The commission has finished verifying applications for the second year.
329,000 Saudis into jobs, 62,000 more than a year earlier
The fund’s first-half 2026 placements compare with 267,000 in the first half of 2025. On our calculation that is 62,000, or 23.2 percent, more. The 329,000 averages 54,833 placements a month, against 44,500 a month a year earlier. The first half of 2025 had itself grown 74 percent on the first half of 2024, so the fund is now building on a much higher base.
Saudis placed in jobs with Human Resources Development Fund support
| Period | Saudis placed | Change on a year earlier |
|---|---|---|
| Full year 2024 | 437,000 | +17% |
| First half 2025 | 267,000 | +74% |
| Full year 2025 | More than 560,000 | +29% |
| First half 2026 | 329,000 | +23% |
Fund releases of 26 January 2025, 20 August 2025, 4 February 2026 and 18 August 2026. The 2024 and 2025 releases count placements in the private sector; the 2026 release says the labour market.
The first half of 2025 delivered 267,000 placements out of the more than 560,000 recorded for the year, which on our calculation left more than 293,000 for the second half: the later months carried the larger share. On our calculation, the first half of 2026 alone equals less than 58.75 percent of the more than 560,000 recorded for 2025, though the 2025 count covers the private sector and the 2026 count the labour market. Establishments in the fund’s count rose too: more than 171,000 in the first half, up 25 percent, against more than 136,000 a year earlier, and small, medium and micro enterprises made up 95 percent of them. Total beneficiaries passed 1.69 million citizens in the first half, against more than 1.45 million in the first half of 2025. Spending on its training and empowerment programmes exceeded 8.296 billion riyals in 2025, against 7.74 billion riyals in 2024.
Al-Dossary added that the decision to localise administrative support professions in full has taken effect, covering 69 occupations in human resources, administration, shipping, public relations and other fields.
Why it matters: Employment and easier homeownership are both among the royal address priorities the minister cited, and the first-half figures moved in that direction on both. First-home moves outpaced the first half of 2024 and accelerated into June, the ownership rate sits 3.76 points from its 2030 goal while gaining faster than that goal requires, and the fund is placing nearly 55,000 citizens a month.
Outlook: The Royal Commission for Riyadh City plans the electronic draw and allocation of second-year plots in mid-December. The fund’s full-year results, which for 2025 came on 4 February 2026, will show whether this year clears the record of more than 560,000 placements, set in a year when the second half was the larger one. The ministry’s next first-home figures will show whether June’s 12,004 marks a new run rate.
Sources: Ministry of Municipalities and Housing, Human Resources Development Fund, Ministry of Media, Royal Commission for Riyadh City, Housing Program, Sakani, Saudi Press Agency, The Edge.
