The UAE federal government on Tuesday approved the extension of visa for real estate investors from six months to three years.
According to a report on newswire WAM, the decision was taken during a cabinet meeting chaired by vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
“The government took a raft of measures as part of its efforts to underpin economic growth within its strategic plan 2011-2013, including extension of visa for real estate investors to three years instead of six months,” WAM said.
Presently, foreign owners of property worth more than AED1m are eligible to get a six-month visa, which needs to be reviewed every six months.
In the same meeting, the Federal Cabinet also raised the capital of Emirates General Petroleum Corporation (Emarat) to AED9bn ($2.45bn) from AED6bn and endorsed budget of the Sheikh Zayed Housing programme for 2011 at AED1.3bn.
The meeting, which took place at the Presidential Palace also gave its nod for the Optional Retirement Programme for Emirati employees at government entities who have completed 30 or more years of service as per the federal pension and social security law, WAM added.
The government’s decision on visa extension comes amid analyst reports that UAE’s property prices are estimated to slide further.
Dubai’s real estate market is set to see further price drops of 10 percent through to the end of 2012, Global Investment House said last week.
The Kuwait-based firm added that prices in neighbouring Abu Dhabi would fall further, by up to 20 percent in the same period.
Real estate sales have plummeted since the days of Dubai’s property bubble, when speculators frequently bought yet-to-be- built homes and sold them at a profit before a single brick was laid, but the emirate continues to struggle with the legacy of oversupply in an already glutted market.
However, Knight Frank in a report earlier this month, said that Dubai’s property market is showing signs of stability amid a global stall in the growth of house prices.
The Gulf’s worst-performing property market in the last three years has seen house prices rise 2.1 percent since October, with a modest 0.6 percent increase in the first quarter, the real estate consultancy said.
In a separate move on Tuesday, UAE’s capital Abu Dhabi unveiled a 20-year urban development plan that it says is flexible enough to respond to global economic changes.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the project for the downtown area, part of an investment plan called Vision 2030, will focus on upgrading infrastructure to accommodate population growth and adding developments such as housing for as many as 50,000 people, shopping malls, roads and a public transportation system.
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