Dubai market overview shines light on investor confidence and middle income housing

Cityscape Global Conference welcomes 1000 real estate professionals and government officials, ahead of Middle East’s largest real estate exhibition

Dubai, UAE, 7 September 2015: A new survey has revealed that more than half of investors would choose residential property as their number one option if they were to spend $10million in the UAE real estate market.

The findings were revealed at the Cityscape Global Conference today by global market research company YouGov and reflected the positive sentiment underlining the region’s current property industry.

With 60% of investors also believing the UAE is the most promising country for real estate investments, more than 300 exhibitors are eagerly awaiting the opening of Cityscape Global tomorrow (8 September) to showcase their latest developments.

Bringing together more than 1000 senior real estate professionals and government officials, the Cityscape Global Conference was focused around three main themes: middle income housing; the growing demand for quality facility management; and the need to improve broker knowledge of Dubai regulations.

H.E. Hesham Al Qassim, CEO, Wasl Asset Management Group, Duaa Dablan, Senior Deputy Director, Real Estate Investment Management and Promotion Center, Dubai Land Department and Ali Abdulla Al Ali, Director of Real Estate Licensing Department, Dubai Land Department were among the experts also presenting at the conference.

Craig Plumb, Head of Research at JLL MENA, speaker at the Dubai Market Overview in the Conference said, “The lack of middle-income housing is currently one of the major challenges facing the real estate industry across MENA.

“As population growth and urbanisation continues, countries throughout the region are facing growing pressure to accommodate the evolving needs of both nationals and expatriates.

“This includes the need for more good quality, affordable accommodation within developed communities, for middle-income individuals and households. Conventions such as the Cityscape Global Conference are the perfect opportunity to bring professionals together from around the world to share their ideas on how we can implement different strategies to ensure the supply within the market meets the demand.”

Taking place at Conrad Hotel Dubai, the conference gave visitors a glimpse of what they have to look forward to over the next three days at the Middle East’s largest property show, Cityscape Global.

Growing from 31,000 square meters in 2014 to over 40,000 square meters of exhibition space, Cityscape Global will host more than 300 exhibitors from 30 different countries, marking the 4th consecutive year of double digit growth for the exhibition.

Emaar, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Meydan, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) and, Sun and Sand Developers make up some of the leading developers and architects that will be showcasing new projects at the event, which takes place from 8-10 September at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Emaar will be displaying the ‘Opera District’ which will house Dubai’s first dedicated Opera House, an addition to the continued development of their AED73 billion Downtown Dubai project.

“Cityscape Global has enabled Emaar to reach out to diverse stakeholders including world-class partners who work on our projects, as well as customers,” said Ahmad Al Matrooshi, Managing Director, Emaar Properties PJSC.

Majid Al Futtaim, DMCC, Kleindienst Group and Al Barari will all be exhibiting for the first time this year, displaying current and future developments.

Martyn Crook, Sales & Marketing Director at Al Barari said, “Cityscape is a great opportunity for us and with the rise in exhibitors this year and positive reports from international real estate experts JLL, it is evident that there is confidence in the market.

“We are offering visitors the opportunity to “truly experience Al Barari” using state-of-the-art technology where they can see, feel and hear the reality of life there. Our stand has been designed by award-winning landscape designer, Kamelia bin Zaal, who has used plants from our nursery Green Works to bring the green elements of Al Barari to the show.”

DMCC, the authority on trade, enterprise and commodities in Dubai, and master developer of the Burj2020 District, will make its Cityscape debut.

Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill, the architects for Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia, will be on the DMCC stand, to discuss the philosophy behind the bold design of DMCC’s ambitious Burj2020.

Also running in tandem with the exhibition is the Cityscape Awards for Emerging Markets. The awards programme attracts hundreds of entries from developers and architects behind real estate developments across emerging markets globally. Winners will be announced at an elaborate ceremony taking place at the Conrad Hotel, Dubai on 8 September.

The Facilities Management programme is organised in association with the Middle East Facility Management Association (MEFMA) and sponsored by Ejadah Asset Management. The Real Estate Brokers programme is sponsored by Masterkey.

Cityscape Global 2015 returns with support from Dubai Land Department and Foundation Partners: Emaar Properties, Dubai Properties and Nakheel; Gold Sponsor: Arma Properties; Garanti Koza and Al Marjan Island; Silver Sponsor Sobha LLC; District Operator Sponsor: Ejadah Asset Management; Project Marketing Sponsor: Aqua Properties; Property Registration Trustee Partner: Tamleek Property Transfer and Research Partner: YouGov.