A promising time for property

Measures taken by the Dubai government have helped manage the supply pipeline and at the current trends of population and tourism growth, demand is set to remain healthy. While there are differing voices on the direction the UAE's real estate market is heading towards, the one things experts can agree on is that Dubai's property sector has matured. Measures taken by the Dubai government have helped manage the supply pipeline and at the current trends of population and tourism growth, demand is set to remain healthy. With prices stabilising, there has been some panic in the market, with fears of another property crash. However, experts concur that this is just a sign that Dubai has learnt its lesson from the past and taken steps to stop the market from heating up again. Real estate development and marketing firm TASWEEK pointed out in a report that the UAE real estate sector will continue to prove attractive in the year 2015. The country’s banks remain generally sound and profitable, and the domestic population remains on track, reaching around 9.9 million by the end of 2014. Masood Al Awar, CEO of TASWEEK Real Estate Development and Marketing, says: ”There are many factors pointing to the continued growth of real estate in the UAE in 2015 and beyond, including a surging population, a resilient economy with an overall inflation rate of less than 2% resurgent market confidence, and stricter regulatory controls on the sector.” Developers in the emirate are also on top of their game this time around. The chances of a sudden correction breaking out in the property marketplace are remote, says Damac Chairman Hussain Sajwani. “Three of the government owned or supported master-developers — Nakheel, Dubai Properties and Emaar — and us as a privately-held entity currently represent anywhere up to 90 per cent of the off-plan supply that will be built in the medium term. With that kind of control in place and which also extends to setting the pricing levels, the chances of crazy things being set off and upsetting the market dynamics are remote." While there is some concern raised on the fact that Dubai may see limited growth this year, most experts agree that the emirate is not in danger of another crash and the general sentiment around UAE's real estate sector is definitely optimistic.