Riyadh apartment rents average SAR 2,584 a month

A Riyadh apartment rented for SAR 2,584 a month on average in Q4 2025, or SAR 31,014 a year. That is the average across 185,107 leases registered on Ejar, the national rental platform. Across all home types the figure is SAR 2,898 a month.

REGA stopped publishing a single Riyadh rent after Q4 2024. It now publishes the same measure district by district, so the city figure above is our own, weighted by REGA's transaction counts (REGA rental indicators). The open files stop at Q4 2025. REGA's platform runs to Q2 2026, but only behind a Nafath national-ID sign-in (REGA).

Key figures at a glance

The first four rows are our own calculations on REGA's district figures, weighted by REGA's transaction counts, from files carrying the KSA Open Data Licence. The last is read straight off GASTAT's table.

What the average counts

The figures come from signed leases registered on Ejar, which passed 10 million contracts by 29 September 2024. REGA removes extreme values before averaging (REGA; platform FAQ).

REGA counts leases three ways: rented units on its platform, transactions in its open data, and contracts in its monthly bulletin. In March 2026 the bulletin showed 181,951 residential contracts against 205,466 residential rental transactions (REGA bulletin). We always work from transactions.

Size matters as well. The average apartment works out at 111 sqm, rented at SAR 276.00 per sqm a year. Studios average 38 sqm and cost more per metre, at SAR 534.82 (REGA; how the indicator is built).

Rents by district range from SAR 1,094 to SAR 5,256 a month

Across the 125 apartment districts with at least 200 registered transactions in Q4 2025, the median district rents for SAR 2,274 a month, 12% below the city average. The expensive northern districts, Hittin, Al Malqa and An Narjis among them, sign a lot of leases and pull the average up.

Source: REGA, Q4 2025 (REGA). Monthly = annual / 12. A selection across the range.

We only show districts with enough leases behind them. Of the 189 apartment cells REGA published, 64 rest on fewer than 200 transactions. The third-highest, SAR 87,000 a year, comes from five leases in an "open area belonging to Ar Rawdah municipality" (REGA). That is a patch of open ground, which is why we always print the count.

What the rent freeze did

The average registered apartment rent fell 3.00% between Q3 and Q4 2025, the first full quarter after the 25 September 2025 freeze. Of the 124 districts with 200 or more transactions in both quarters, 92 fell (REGA, Q3 2025 and Q4 2025). We checked whether leases had simply moved to cheaper districts. They had not: the fall came from lower rents.

Under the freeze, rent increases inside Riyadh are suspended for five years. A vacant unit that has been let before stays at its last Ejar contract value, and only property never let before can be priced freely (REGA, 25 September 2025; the provisions). New buildings are now where market pricing happens. Enforcement has been light: 268 complaints and 18 landlords found in breach in the first three weeks (REGA, 16 October 2025).

Why the 5.26% annual rise misleads

GASTAT's rent index for Riyadh was up 5.26% on the year in July 2026 (GASTAT CPI). Most of that rise came before the freeze. Rents grew 0.90% in the single month of August 2025 (GASTAT), against 0.16% in July 2026. At July's pace, rents grow roughly 2% a year, so a valuation built on the annual figure assumes a market that ended in September 2025.

The two official series moved in opposite directions in the same quarter. REGA averages leases signed in the quarter, while GASTAT tracks a fixed basket that includes sitting tenants. We read REGA for the level and GASTAT for the direction (how that index is built). There is no Riyadh house-price index, which is why Riyadh rental yields by district have to be built rather than looked up (GASTAT REPI).

What the official data leaves out

There is no rent by bedroom count, no furnished split, and no vacancy figure, since Ejar only records signed leases.

Omran estimate: how much of income goes on rent. Average monthly disposable income for a Riyadh household was SAR 14,990 in 2023 (GASTAT HIECES 2023, table 1-2). For a non-Saudi household, the average rent takes roughly 40% of income. The dates differ (income 2023, rent Q4 2025), and the income average includes owners who pay no rent.

Those are the households the statistics cover least. Every published tenure share, including the familiar "32.8% rented" of 2024, counts Saudi households only (GASTAT via DataSaudi).

We hold the full grid behind this page: every district, home type and quarter REGA has published, with the count on each cell. Ask for the district table, or see our Riyadh residential market work.

FAQ

What is the average rent in Riyadh per month? About SAR 2,584 a month for an apartment in Q4 2025, the last quarter in REGA's open data. Across all home types it is SAR 2,898 a month.

Is that what I would actually pay? Only if your flat is close to the average, which implies 111 sqm. Across the 125 districts with 200 or more transactions, rents run from SAR 1,094 a month in As Salihiyah to SAR 5,256 in Hittin.

Did the September 2025 rent freeze bring rents down? Partly, and the two official series disagree. REGA's registered average fell 3.00% in Q4 2025. GASTAT's index kept rising, though its monthly pace slowed from 0.90% in August 2025 to 0.16% in July 2026.

Can I look these district numbers up myself? Not on an open government site. REGA's platform goes to Q2 2026 but needs a Nafath sign-in. The quarterly files behind our tables stop at Q4 2025 and carry the KSA Open Data Licence, which lets us publish derived tables.

Sources

• REGA, rental indicators for Riyadh region, Q4 2025 (district rents, transaction counts, rent per sqm): link
• REGA, rental indicators for Riyadh region, Q3 2025 (the fixed-weight composition test): link
• KSA Open Data Licence, as distributed with the REGA files: link
• REGA, Real Estate Indicators platform (coverage to Q2 2026, per-unit definition, Nafath sign-in): link
• REGA, Real Estate Indicators platform FAQ (extreme values excluded from the average): link
• REGA, Saudi Real Estate Market Monthly Bulletin, March 2026 (contracts against transactions, Riyadh's share of the rental market): link
• REGA, Saudi Real Estate Market Monthly Bulletin, February 2026 (266,273 residential lease contracts, +37% year on year): link
• REGA, Riyadh rent freeze provisions, 25 September 2025: link
• REGA, rental violations monitoring, 16 October 2025 (268 complaints, 18 landlords): link
• REGA, Ejar passes 10 million registered contracts, 29 September 2024: link
• GASTAT, CPI tables July 2026 (Riyadh actual rentals 142.37, monthly and annual rates): link
• GASTAT, CPI tables August 2025 (2023 = 100 rebasing, +0.90% month): link
• GASTAT, Real Estate Price Index Q2 2026 (Riyadh region all-sector index 115.98): link
• GASTAT, Household Income and Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023 (Riyadh household income, housing expenditure): link
• GASTAT via DataSaudi, Al-Riyadh region profile (households, Saudi-household tenure shares): link