Property prices in Dubai will increase by no more than 10 percent over the next three years, according to one of the UAE’s most respected businessmen.
Speaking to Arabian Business, Habtoor Group founder Khalaf Al Habtoor said: “We don’t want [prices] to rise, we want it to stay like that to give appetite to the people of this country, to the people visiting this country to buy and rent,” he said.
When asked to predict how much property prices would rise by, he said. “Maybe 10 percent within three years, not more than that.”
Property prices in the emirate have fallen by more than 50 percent in the past year following the global economic crisis.
Habtoor also blamed banks for failing to carry out due diligence on developers – helping to fuel the current crisis.
“Banks must in my opinion evaluate the capability of the management before granting them the loans [for development],” he said.
“I think we should work on the conventional way we used to work. We should not step into something which we are not qualified to do,” he said.
“If you enter in something in the line in which you have no experience in it, you will be in trouble.”
Nevertheless, he remains positive on the outlook for 2010, telling Arabian Business that figures published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – which predict the UAE economy will increase by 4.5 percent – are underestimated.
“I think they will achieve more…The oil sector will cross that projection and retail is improving,” he said. “We [the Habtoor Group] have to achieve at least 20-30 percent growth than 2009-2010.”
Follow us on
