RIYADH — The average price per square meter of land in Saudi Arabia’s major cities recorded a sharp decline during the current month of July compared to the same period in 2019, Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learned from the analysis of a data obtained from the Ministry of Justice. Prices of land registered a huge fall mainly in Makkah and Jeddah. According to the report, the average price per square meter in the city of Makkah fell to record levels during July, bringing the price per square meter to SR1,382.28, a decline of 55.11 percent in just one month, while comparing with the average price of SR 3,079.58 in June. This was before the introduction of a 10 percent increase in VAT. On an annual basis, the decline stood at 14.11 percent, with the average price per square meter reaching SR1,609.27 in July 2019. The city of Jeddah posted a decline in the price per square meter during the current month’s deals by 24.62 percent on an annual basis, reaching the average price SR797.11 per square meter compared to SR1,057.5 during the same period last year. The average price per square meter during the last month of June stood at SR1,467.37, a record fall of 45.68 percent on a monthly basis. The average price of land in the city of Riyadh registered a noticeable decline in July, reaching SR867.37, a decrease of 18.45 percent compared to the prices recorded in the previous month of June. As for the prices on an annual basis, they decreased slightly by 2.69 percent, after the average price per square meter reached SR891.36 in July 2019. As for the average price of transactions in the city of Dammam, it recorded a slight decrease of 6.65 percent during the current month, reaching SR1,314.03, from SR1,407.59 in June. At the annual level, the price per square meter increased by 1.8 percent, from SR1,290.76 in July 2019.