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Global Recession Casts its Shadow on Property Show

“These are the difficult times and we must admit the realty and then we find the solution,” said Abdullah M Al Shizawi, managing partner of Heart of Capital, a company that sells UK agricultural land to the buyers in UAE and other GCC countries.

“Last year, visitor turn out was amazing and we had number of good deals. But today there are almost no visitors,” he said. According to him, it will take at least four to five years before the reality sector bounces back.

Dawood Al Shirawi from the Strategic Marketing and Exhibition (SME), the event organiser said that it was challenging for SME to organise the event.

“This was a big challenge for us to organise this exhibition during recession times. Right now local market is going through the correction period due to the global recession,” he said.

He said only serious investors are visiting the fair to check the pulse of the market. Even then, Dawood was hopeful of closing some deals. Faisal Khilji, representative of Chapal Builders said that it is a good time to own a home instead of renting. Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Land Department inaugurated the International Property Show- Dubai 2009. Speaking at the inauguration, he expressed optimism over Dubai’s property market growth.

“Dubai will be the fastest city to recover from the impact of the ongoing credit crunch, and the emirate’s real estate sector will once again witness a period of long term boom. However, developers need to remain focused on their goal of continuing with the projects that they have already started and ensure that these projects are delivered on time,” he said.

He also assured full support from the Dubai Land Department for developers who have registered with Real Esatate Regulatory Authority (RERA).

Ziad Bushnaq, CEO of Cornerstone said: “This show of faith will have a very positive effect on the regional property sector, and will definitely help to boost confidence in the real estate sector. The participation of top companies from so many countries around the world is also a good sign, and we are confident that the property market in the region will not take long to pick itself up and get moving again, albeit at a slightly more subdued pace.”

· aneela@khaleejtimes.com