Riyadh city suffers from high housing and construction costs, which have increased by more than 200% over the last 7 years. This problem led to a significant interest from the government and the citizens of the city in understanding the causes of housing and construction cost escalation and the best strategies to address this problem in the short and long-terms, in order to find solutions for affordable housing. In response to the absence of research regarding this problem, the researcher has decided to conduct a scientific survey about the factors that might have led to this problem in Riyadh. While conducting the literature review, the researcher identified 16 possible factors that were mentioned as possible causes for this problem. Thus, the main objective of this study is to identify the main factors that affect housing cost escalation. All of the survey samples were collected from construction industry professionals and experts working in Riyadh. The sample size required was calculated using the statistical equation mentioned in Chapter 4, and based on an estimated level of confidence of 90%, standard error of 10%, and a standard deviation calculated from 30 random samples collected initially. The required sample size was estimated to be at least 215 surveys, and the researcher was able to collect a total of 237 surveys. After collecting the data, the researcher analyzed the data through Microsoft Excel software by applying descriptive statistics, means, modes, and standard deviations. Tables and figures have been used to show the results of the survey. After analyzing the data, the researcher identified the main factors based on the mode and mean averages. The researcher has identified four major impacting factors that affected housing and construction costs. The most impacting factors on housing and construction cost are the corruption in selling land, speculative purchases of land, high demand for housing, and the high population growth rate in Riyadh. The main recommendations that should help the government to solve this problem are: to apply an annual tax on large plots, prevent speculative purchases in housing areas, monitor the prices of consruction materials, and revive small cities around Riyadh to reduce congestion and crowding.