Between 40% and 45% of the population of the GCC states are less than 21 years old, so there is ever-increasing housing demand and an ever-expanding property bubble. Finally, the sound of a ticking time bomb has woken policymakers and Islamic scholars to the serious economic and social consequences that could emerge if more affordable and accessible mortgage financing is not made available soon.
The GCC banks only started to roll out mortgage products just over a year ago, with Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Instalment Company becoming the first lender in the region to offer 20-year fixed-rate mortgages at the end of 2006.
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