Makkah, Cities with Most Expensive Real Estate

Makkah - Makkah, Islam's holiest city, to prove themselves as exceptional cases on gloomy real estate market in the Middle East. Continued increase in the number of people who worship Hajj and Umrah, led to a booming hotel construction in this city.

Real estate experts said the price per one square meter in the commercial area around the holy city, can reach 375 thousand riyals (U.S. $ 100,000 or approximately USD 848.55 million), making Mecca as the most expensive city in the world. Similarly told Al Arabiya on Thursday (28/07/2011).

Saudi Arabian newspaper, 'Al-Yawm' once wrote, more than 2.5 million pilgrims go to Mecca for the hajj each year. Luxury hotels, high-occupancy buildings and commercial skyscrapers overshadow the Grand Mosque, where the Kaaba is located.
 
Shoujaa Zaidi, Vice President of Project Management and General Manager of the Hilton Hotel and Towers Makkah, said, "Makkah is currently at its peak."

'Forest' grows tall building beside the Grand Mosque, built by the Jabal Omar Development Company, with a budget of over 5.5 billion dollars. Hilton immediately opened the door there, along with 26 other new hotels, adding 13 thousand new rooms in the city.

"No doubt these hotels will be booked out. A growing population of Muslims justifies this expansion," he said.

Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) states, governments and developers of investment real estate in Mecca and Medina, estimated at 120 billion dollars in the coming decades. In Makkah alone, projects worth 20 billion dollars currently being run.
 
Hotel Marriott International and Hyatt International interest to manage and operate the hotels built by the developer Jabal Omar. The development is expected to increase the capacity of Makkah in receiving the pilgrims up to 50% in the next 10 years.

Expert problem Makkah and Madinah, Ankawi Sami, who settled in Jeddah said, "Mecca and Medina are historically almost perfect. You can not wander in the central area and only found a skyscraper," he said.

Here there is also Mecca Clock Royal Tower that looked at the city, which has the largest clock tower in the world, which is also a towering hotel overlooking the Kaaba.

Traditionally, Makkah only provide accommodation which contains small rooms with basic facilities to run the service, with no other services, because they are regarded as only temporary residents who live within a short period. Many of them rented in houses with cheap fare.

However, the scene changed a few years after the international and regional hotel operators popping up in Makkah. Famous luxury hotels began providing 24-hour service for tourists and pilgrims.

Company based in Dubai, Emaar and Damac, as Arabtec and Drake & Scull excited to enter the Saudi market.

These companies, along with their competitors from Qatar, Kuwait and Egypt, felt that success in Makkah will help them enter the Saudi market is broader, which is currently experiencing a housing shortage due to population growth in the country kingdom. Saudi population now 29 million.

Zeina Al-Tabari, Executive Director of Drake & Scull said, the majority of the contracts currently in Saudi. "We bid on many projects in Jabal Omar and around Mecca. We expect a large increase in Saudi Arabia," ujarnya.Nurul Hidayati - detikNews