Dubai's Young Shadow. Oleg Torbosov's business trip to Riyadh

Oleg Torbosov's trip to Riyadh lasted exactly 5 days, where he arrived to get acquainted with the city, real estate and market prospects. It was important to understand what the capital of Saudi Arabia has to offer in terms of investment.

Low-rise Riyadh

The first 2 days were dedicated to the villa townships, which were very similar. In exterior, filling and concept. No frills. As it turned out, all of them are not available for purchase for foreigners. Hence, there were some doubts.

Identical designs

All projects are made as if on a template: thousands of monotonous villas, small windows, compact bedrooms, miniature yards, blank fences. The playgrounds are colored plastic.

Because of Muslim laws, there are no communal pools or fitness rooms. And separate ones are not very popular, so pools have been abandoned altogether.

Boring towers

Apartment projects have no lobbies at all. You walk through the micro-parking lot and you're right at the elevator. There's a small pool on the roof. That's it. Apartments go from $300,000 to $600,000. Penthouses are $1.5 million. Interiors are ascetic.

Flipper's paradise

With many Europeans coming to work in the country for the big salaries, there is a demand for good interiors here. The same PwC in Riyadh has hired more than 500 people since the beginning of the year, with the highest salaries of any of its offices.

The grads are in no hurry

The city itself, with the exception of a few neighborhoods, resembles the Deira district of Dubai. And here are not in a hurry to "enter" famous brands: "Mandarin", "Bulgari" and others.

Is the market ready

There is a sense that the Saudis are still undecided whether they need foreign investment. Instead of full ownership, real estate can only be bought on a lishold - a long term lease.

Whether such policies encourage capital inflows, job expansion and overall market growth is an open question.