Dubai 'set for rise in 2010'

Dubai's property market is set for a surge in prices in 2010, it has been predicted.

Head of sales, marketing, PR and customer relations at developer Victory Heights Talal Chihabi told Trade Arabia that after a hard 2009, better times are on the way.

"The price rise would come on the back of a return of economic growth in the UAE, after a year of economic uncertainty and the completion of new developments," he stated.

Mr Chihabi predicted that the country will return to economic growth in the second quarter and that this will help bring about an average price rise of ten per cent.

The completion of attractive new build homes and pledges by the UAE's central bank to support increased lending for house purchases will help this process, he added.

Strategic consulting firm AT Kearney's 2010 Real Estate Global Opportunity Index recently said that the UAE will be the world's 18th best country in which to invest in real estate next year, compared to being 31st in 2008.