Market Trends

Price conscious residents prefer Sharjah over Dubai

Occupancy levels in northern emirate to remain high despite drop in Dubai rates, Cluttons says

Arab buyers told to look past luxury London real estate

Wealthy investors should diversify from ‘golden postcodes' to bump up returns, says agency

MidEast investors now own 6% of City of London offices

New report shows foreign investors own 52% of Square Mile, more than ever before

Arab buyers seek haven in luxury London homes

Wealthy foreign buyers seeking safe haven assets in city’s prime real estate spots

Abu Dhabi’s vision dims amid Dubai-like property slump

UAE capital's development blueprint may face overhaul amid new economic realities

Abu Dhabi project delays to hurt Dubai recovery

Analysts fear domino effect as oil-rich emirate reins in pace of major developments

Saudi housing supply, demand gap narrows

Jones Lang LaSalle says more relaxed bank lending is helping real estate sector

Global woes stall Dubai real estate recovery

Poll predicts fresh 10% slide in Gulf emirate's house prices amid supply mismatch

Tourism may be lifeline for Nakheel’s World

Moves to reshape troubled real estate project as travel hotspot could attract fresh interest

Abu Dhabi rent squeeze amid 11,000 new homes

UAE capital will see tighter margins as fresh supply puts pressure on landlords

Floating island concept unveiled for Dubai's The World

Atoll Floating Islands says to target owners of Nakheel project with floating 'Ome design

Value of GCC fits-outs to grow by $1.17bn this year

New report says investment in hospitality to see 230% growth as new hotels open

Work to start on $1.37bn Doha Festival City 'in days'

Project located 15km north of downtown Doha is being developed by Dubai's Al-Futtaim Group

Gulf developers lower gaze to affordable homes

Recession-hit property firms switch sights to mundane, midmarket housing

MidEast buyers spur luxury London property boom

Wealthy foreign investors seek safe haven assets in central London real estate

GCC property prices to slide further in H2

Rating agency says developers in oversupplied markets such as UAE likely to scale back projects

Dubai’s Nakheel delays bond to trade creditors

Troubled developer blames administrative issues for delay in issuing sukuk

Emaar's Indian subsidiary reports $46m loss

Emaar MGF's loss was mainly as a result of discount sale of its hospitality project in Kolkata

By value, MENA homeowners hold 13 percent of London’s most expensive property

London calling for Middle East's super-wealthy

Region's rich among the biggest buyers of prime London property, with average spend of £4m

Nakheel to pay $1.3bn in Islamic bonds by June-end

Indebted developer says will be carved out of parent firm Dubai World within weeks

Egypt's real estate sector is down, not out

Investors wary as corruption cases muddy the waters, but Cairo real estate sales hold steady egy

UAE's Eshraq Properties raises $225m in IPO, bankers say

Eshraq's initial public offering is first by a property firm since real estate boom ended in 2008

Business group sees Dubai real estate bottom in Q1 2012

Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry says prices unlikely to return to pre-crisis levels

S&P still sees 'negative trends' in GCC real estate

Rating agency says unrest has 'uneven' impact across GCC corporate, infrastructure sectors

Revealed: the best and worst UAE property analysts

Arabian Business ranks the performance of analysts who cover UAE property-related stocks, based on their returns

Eshraq plans to sell a 55 percent stake, on offer from May 1 to May 11 but open only to GCC nationals

Abu Dhabi's Eshraq seeks to raise AED825m in IPO

Listing marks the UAE's first initial public offering by a property company since 2007.

Property professionals in the region earn 40 percent more than the global average, the poll showed

Middle East property execs top global pay poll

Property professionals in the region earned 60% more than UK peers with average pay of $132,000

RENT SURGE: Annual inflation in the oil exporter hit a record of 6.2% in September, driven by rocketing rent costs.

Kuwait vows war on property costs

State says it is to tackle rise in residential land prices and ensure decent standard of living for citizens.

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK: Moody's said analysis of the Gulf real estate sector was difficult due to a lack of consistent information. (Getty Images)

Analysis of Gulf real estate 'extremely' difficult

Lack of information and inconsistent market estimates a problem, Moody's says.

UAE Guide: living and working in the Emirates

Real estate professionals working at Cityscape today are flush with wages up to 22.1 percent higher than a year ago.

Salaries soar for real estate executives

CITYSCAPE: Wages and benefits are both improving in step with rocketing house prices in the Gulf.

MARKET STABLE: Amjad said the market would balance out when more housing supply came online in 2009. (Getty Images)

Omniyat confident Dubai property market stable

Market will balance out when more housing supply comes online in 2009, CEO says.

Qatar denies it has set rent cap

Speculation grows that government will lower cap from 10% to 7% as current rate expires at month's end.

Real estate agents cash in on boom

The real estate industry is building riches for its workers offering the best salaries in the region.

In total, Dubai residential supply will be about 277,000 units through 2010. (Getty Images)

Value of UAE mortgage market doubles

Market grew to $12.5bn in six month to June as lenders tap booming property market.

CONTINUED SHORTAGES: HC Securities said Dubai's real estate market was set to become the second most expensive in the world. (Getty Images)

Dubai real estate - second most expensive in world

Continued shortages will make only West End of London more expensive for housing.

UAE to publish inflation data monthly

Emirates plans to update consumer price index following review, source reveals.

INFLATION SURGE: NCB said inflation would average between 5% and 7% this year. (Getty Images)

Largest Saudi lender predicts 7% inflation in '08

Inflation to accelerate as gov't spending and immigration strain capacity, NCB says.

COSTS SURGE: Inflation in Qatar rose slightly to 13.74% at the end of December. (Getty Images)

Qatar inflation hovers below 14%

Rents and food prices surge in Q4 as inflation rises slightly to 13.74% compared with previous quarter.

PRICE RISE: Dubai house prices are forecast to rise this year as the price of materials and wages drive construction costs up. (Getty Images)

UAE house prices will continue to rise

Demand coupled with supply shortage making it easy for developers to pass on costs, EFG-Hermes says.

CONSIDERING CUT: Oman may slash its rent cap to 7% as part of a new rent law being introduced, sources said. (Getty Images)

Oman to slash rent cap

Gov't considering cutting cap to 7% from 15% previously as part of new rent law, sources say.

SALES DILEMMA: Kuwait's real estate market is struggling as property prices are beyond the reach of most potential buyers, Al-Khudari has said. (Getty Images)

Overpriced property market struggling to attract buyers

Kuwait market in 'stagnation', prices above the levels buyers can afford, exec says.

HOUSING BOOM: Property prices are set to peak next year, EFG-Hermes says.

Property prices to peak in 2008

Property prices are set to continue to rise next year as projects are delayed, EFG-Hermes says.

The road ahead

The talking point of 2007 was how expensive life in Dubai had become. Will 2008 be the same? Our team of financial experts have the answers.

PRICES SOAR: Jones Lang LaSalle predicted building costs and delays would continue to drive property prices up. (Getty Images)

Property prices predicted to soar 20% in 2008

Building costs and delays will continue to push up prices, Jones Lang LaSalle says.

Rents eat into Gulf salaries

Housing expenses continue to dent paychecks forcing more people to share accommodation.

RENT CAPS: Abu Dhabi Executive Council says restricting rent increases will help stabilise the property market.

Tenant relief as Abu Dhabi cuts rent cap

Executive Council says rent increases will be restricted to 5% for the remainder of the calendar year.

BUYERS WARY: The majority of Gulf residents will continue to rent in the belief house prices have peaked. (Getty Images)

Fearful buyers shelve 2008 property plans

Gulf residents will continue to rent as 2008 price drop predicted, survey shows.

PRICE MISERY: Real estate owners in Saudi have increased rents by up to 25%. (Getty Images)

Saudi tenants floored by rent hikes

Price misery in kingdom compounded as real estate owners increase rents by up to 25%, report says.

Are salaries still attractive in the Gulf?

Each week Arabian Business invites you to have your say on a popular issue.

Caps off to rent watchdog in inflation battle

Dubai is slowly recognizing the problem of rising rents and its contribution to inflation.

PROPERTY BAN: Owning property coundl soon be outlawed for foreigners in the Gulf state of Bahrain. (Getty Images)

Bahrain could ban foreign property ownership

Gulf state may pass law in effort to curb pressures on real estate prices, report says.

Dubai property prices - why the only way is up

Dubai is the new Monaco, and the city's property prices are set to go interstellar argues David Westley.