During the first quarter of 2016, Riyadh and Jeddah witnessed a decline in sales and rentals in the villa and apartment segments, Trade Arabia reported, quoting a study.

In the apartment sector, lease rates achieved a 8.4% year-on-year (YoY) growth in Jeddah. However in Riyadh, the rates recorded 3%, international management consultants firm PKF Consulting said.

Despite the high growth in both cities during the first quarter, the growth rate is considered the slowest in Jeddah since mid-2015, the report added.

An annual growth of 1.2% in rental rates of villas has been recorded in Jeddah, while no change was spotted in Riyadh.

As for the apartment segment, the Jeddah stablized in a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, while witnessing a 2.5% decline in the villas segment, according to Arabian Industry.

QoQ rental rates remained stable in Riyadh, while vacancy rates dropped by 7%, and with the expected supply of around 221,000 square meters of Gross Leasable Area (GLA) for the rest of 2016, vacancy rates will increase, according to PKF.