Saudi Arabia: The volume of real estate transactions in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province reached 28,000 worth SR36 billion ($9.6 billion) by the end of the third quarter, said a top official.

Abdullah Saud Al-Hammad, CEO of the Real Estate General Authority, noted that 45 percent of these transactions involved commercial real estate properties. In comparison, 39 percent were residential properties, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Al-Hammad said the contribution of real estate activities to the Kingdom’s overall gross domestic product reached 6.1 percent by the end of the third quarter.

On the other hand, the contribution of the real estate sector to the non-oil GDP of the Kingdom stood at 12.7 percent during the same period.

Developing the property sector is crucial for Saudi Arabia, as it is steadily diversifying its economy away from oil.

Earlier this month, a report released by the General Authority for Statistics revealed that Saudi Arabia’s real estate price index rose by 0.7 percent in the third quarter compared to the year-ago period, fueled by an increase in residential estate values.

In August, Saudi Arabia unveiled a real estate market initiative to streamline the sector.