Although Dubai’s economy has seen robust recovery, fueled by surge in areas like trade, tourism and transport with Dubai pushing its candidacy to host the World Expo in 2020 (the first time a city in the Middle East would host this event), the jump in property prices is too fast in too short a time. Some experts are already voicing their concerns that surging supply and unsustainable demand is not really a good mix, for starters. On the other hand, the regulatory authorities are meticulously chronicling new initiatives like, to name a few, making it mandatory for developers to pay for land in full before construction, and to complete projects before sales. Similarly, hiking the fee it charges on real estate sales from two per cent to four per cent. But are these steps enough to assure the boom will last, and whether new opportunities will be created for the SME sector? Since the subject is gathering momentum, we bring you a special focus on the real estate sector in this edition.
