State intervention needed to kick-start UAE market

In order for the property market in the UAE to return to pre-economic crash levels more state involvement is needed, experts have claimed.

Additional loans and lengthier visas for potential investors are required to help put the housing market back on track in the emirate before steps can be taken towards real estate recovery.

This is the view of Nick Maclean, regional head of property consultancy CB Richard Ellis, who believes that the UAE central bank needs to play a vital role in rejuvenating the property market.

Discussing the six-month period buyers are currently given to complete their purchases, Mr Maclean claimed that "shortness of residency is definitely keeping the buyers away."

He explained: "We do need to elongate the window that people have so they don't need to go back and forth. The period we have at the moment is a barrier to entry."

In addition, Mr Maclean points to the model adopted by the UK government as one which could be followed in the UAE, with banks being encouraged to lend more money for mortgages.

One of the region's leading developers recently stated that the property market in the emirate had reached the bottom and as such was ready to begin its gradual recovery.

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