Developers need to act to ease mortgage crisis - Damac chief

Developers need to do more to give their customers access to mortgages amid the impact of the global economic crisis, a leading UAE property company said on Sunday.

Hussain Sajwani, chairman of Damac Properties, said development firms needed to "again facilitate the flow of funds, to re-activate those investors who have lost confidence".

He added that the lack of availability of mortgages lay at the core of the UAE's slowdown in the real estate market.

"We need to take a cue from the consumer goods industry which has traditionally tied up with financial institutions and banks to boost sales – from television sets to home theatre systems that are made available on easy finance options," he said.

"Yes, real estate is a different industry and striking such partnerships will not be easy, but are necessary," Sajwani added.

He said the first and most basic step for a developer was to work on strengthening its profile with banks.

"While it is right that irresponsible mortgage lending should be discouraged, extremely tight and unjustified policies will do no good. Proper policies need to be crafted and we as developers can work along with the banks to develop customized policies," he said.

"There is no one single solution, both the banks and developers want to be in business and the only way is to adopt a joint approach in re-instilling confidence. It is a critical for the recovery of the real estate volumes.

"Many developers demonstrated such capabilities when the times were good. However it is now vitally important to continue and demonstrate such capabilities today. The rebound of the property sector largely rests on the recovery of investor confidence, primarily driven by banking confidence.

"We have to move forward and solve this. It is imperative for developers to facilitate mortgage availability and financing packages for investors and buyers and make purchasing real estate a viable option for the masses once again."

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