98% call for more transparency in real estate

Huge strides need to be taken in the Gulf property market before residents can feel confident that the industry has their interests at heart.

That's the overwhelming view suggested by an Arabian Business online poll which revealed that a massive 86 percent of respondents did not trust the real estate market locally and urgent action needed to be taken to improve matters.

They called for greater transparency in the industry, claiming far too many deals are still done behind closed doors.

We ran the poll on Tuesday after Dubai-based developer Nakheel revealed that it had launched a staff audit to ensure greater transparency and that they were complying to all regulations.

Last month, a report by Jones Lang Lasalle claimed Dubai was now the most transparent market in the Middle East.

The study showed that the city registered the greatest improvement in real estate transparency globally over the last two years.

But Arabian Business readers disagreed. As well as 86 percent calling for urgent action, another 12 percent thought that, while the situation had improved, there was still a long way to go.

Just two percent of respondents said they were happy with the state of the region's real estate market and would be happy to do business.

Asked whether their recent real estate dealings had been "open and honest", no-one in our poll said yes.

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