Rental prices in Jeddah go up

In a step to take advantage of this tourism season in Jeddah, landlords of furnished apartments have raised rental prices by 50 percent ahead of the summer vacation.

Students who came to sit for exams expressed their resentment of the situation.

The increase is estimated by 50 percent of the previous prices, from SR 100 for a single room to SR 150.

“I usually set off for vacation ahead of the crowds, and the high prices of residential units during vacation time, but landlords were much faster than me and took the step ahead to raise the prices anyway,” said Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, who comes with his family for a vacation in Jeddah. But Saleh Al-Zahrani said that prices vary in every different district.

“In most cities that I visited, the list of room prices is always visible so that customers know the prices without being victims of cheating and fraud,” he added

Hospitality providers say that the rise in prices is normal. “This is our chance to compensate the stagna- tion and inactivity of the sector during the past few months,” said an apartment landlord. He said that it is natural that market forces are subject to demand and supply.

“When demand is high, prices indexes rise as well,” he added.

Muhammad Al-Nufaiei, a tourism committee member, said that due diligences are being made to control prices.

“There are inspection teams that make surprise campaigns to hotels and furnished apartments to detect any violations in the sector,” he said.