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Real Estate

Real estate and property news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

Sodic general manager Ayman Amer and Robert De Niro, Nobu Hospitality Co-Founder, at the launch of their third venture in Egypt

Aldar-owned Sodic to build third Nobu hotel in Egypt

Sodic, the Egyptian real estate subsidiary of the UAE’s Aldar Properties and Nobu, the US-headquartered luxury lifestyle brand, have signed up to develop their third hospitality project in Egypt. The Nobu Hotel and Restaurant, which will come up in east Cairo, will open next year, the developer said in a statement. The cost of the […]

UAE puts up 2 billion dirhams to pay for flood-damaged homes

The UAE has pledged AED2 billion ($545 million) to help rebuild homes of citizens that were damaged in this month’s floods. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE prime minister and ruler of Dubai, said on X (formerly Twitter) that the UAE’s cabinet of ministers had also formed a committee to assess the flood […]

Emaar dividend Dubai mall

Emaar doubles dividend to $1.2bn after $11bn in sales

Shareholders of Emaar Properties, Dubai’s largest listed developer, have approved a dividend of AED4.4 billion ($1.2 billion) for 2023, up from AED2.2 billion the year before. The dividend payout reflects the company’s “robust profitability and solid financial health”, the developer said in a statement.  Shareholders also voted to appoint new board members “to drive the […]

Executives from Dar Global, Marjan, Aston Martin and Aarvees Group at the signing ceremony

UAE launches Aston Martin-branded residential tower

The global development arm of Saudi-listed Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development will launch a $250 million luxury beachfront residential project in Ras Al Khaimah with interiors designed by British luxury carmaker Aston Martin. The residential project, located on Al Marjan Island, will be launched in May, London-listed Dar Global said in a statement. The project is […]

Construction work in Kuwait. Nurseries, schools and shops are being built for the new residential district of Al Metlaa

Kuwait signs $140m contracts for Al Metlaa development

Kuwait’s Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) has signed two contracts worth KD42 million ($140 million) to construct public buildings in Al Metlaa, a new residential district north of Kuwait City. Nurseries, stores, schools and shops will be included, state news agency Kuna reported. Electricity connections have been provided for 109 buildings in the district, […]

Emirates' REIT's portfolio includes the Index Tower (centre). Its profit rose 55 percent year on year

Emirates REIT in profit after revaluation gain

Dubai’s Emirates REIT reported a 55 percent rise in annual profit after making a nine-figure revaluation gain on its property portfolio. A REIT – a real estate investment trust – is a company that owns income-producing assets related to real estate such as buildings, land and real estate securities.  Through REITs investors can have fractional […]

Prices for apartments in Dubai – with or without enviable views – have risen by as much as 30% year on year

Rising prices risk making Dubai homes ‘unattainable’

Escalating home prices in Dubai’s affordable communities are making it even more difficult for residents to get on the property ladder, real estate experts have warned. February data from property consultancy ValuStrat shows the highest annual growth in apartment values was recorded in the emirate’s more budget-friendly neighbourhoods.  Prices in Discovery Gardens and The Greens […]

The total value of projects under construction in Masdar City is estimated at AED1 billion

Masdar City has up to $1bn of projects at design phase

Masdar City, Abu Dhabi’s sustainability-focused urban community, is working on projects in critical sectors of the UAE, backed by investments of between AED3 and AED4 billion ($817 million and $1 billion). The projects include energy, artificial intelligence (AI), space, life sciences and agriculture, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported, quoting CEO Ahmed Baghoum. He […]

The 565 housing units in Azalea are the fourth phase of the AED9.5 billion Masaar development in Sharjah

Arada awards $168m in contracts for Sharjah development

UAE real estate developer Arada has awarded two contracts worth AED615 million ($167.5 million) to build all 565 residential dwellings in Azalea, the fourth phase of the AED9.5 billion Masaar mega-development in Sharjah’s Suyoh district.  Construction will begin immediately and the units will be ready for handover by the end of 2025, the developer said […]

The Saudi government is trying to raise home ownership among nationals to 70 percent of the population by 2030, which is helping to drive up residential property prices

Residential price rise counters slip in Saudi commercial property

Residential property was the driving force behind a rise in Saudi Arabian real estate prices in the first quarter of 2024 as prices of commercial real estate fell, government statistics released this week showed.  The overall real estate price index rose by 0.6 percent compared with the same quarter in 2023. But while there was […]

The under-construction Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi

UAE wealth fund ADQ buys stake in Abu Dhabi builder

UAE sovereign wealth fund ADQ is acquiring a stake in the construction company building the Guggenheim and Zayed National museums in Abu Dhabi. Alpha Dhabi Holding (ADH), an investment holding company, announced in a filing to the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange on Tuesday that it will divest 49 percent of its subsidiary Alpha Dhabi Construction […]

Sedra will be developed in eight phases, adding more than 30,000 residential units to Riyadh’s housing stock

Roshn awards $57m contract for Riyadh villa community

The Saudi giga-project Roshn has signed a deal worth more than SAR215 million ($57 million) with Dar Al Arkan, a local developer, for a villa community in Riyadh. The two companies signed an agreement allowing Dar Al Arkan to acquire and develop residential villas in the first phase of Sedra. The 35 million sq m […]

Dubai rendered in the metaverse. Prices of virtual land plots peaked in 2022

The Mena metaverse: moving beyond the hype

Two years ago, the concept of metaverse lands transformed from an interesting subculture into a thriving multi-billion-dollar market, capturing the interest of major investors both regionally in the Middle East and globally.  Metaverse lands, made of pixels and digital images, refer to buildings and plots within a virtual environment, offering spaces for gaming, socialising, business […]

Dubai's property market 'will have a severe oversupply problem' if all projects are delivered without delay

Delays keep property oversupply at bay in Dubai

Dubai’s off-plan market is treading a delicate line between the risk of having too many properties and the threat of project delays, industry insiders have said. “There’s plenty of supply coming in,” Haider Tuaima, director of real estate research at consultancy Valustrat, told AGBI. “If everything is handed over on time, then we will have […]

Ras El-Hekma international airport will support Egypt's new metropolis, located 350 km northwest of Cairo

Egypt allocates land for airport at ADQ’s metropolis

The Egyptian government has allocated two plots of land for the development of Ras El-Hekma international airport by UAE sovereign wealth fund ADQ. The land plots in Matrouh, a governorate in the north-west of Egypt, were handed over to the country’s civil aviation ministry, Ahram Online newspaper reported. The airport development is part of the […]

The Saudi Contractors Authority put the total value of ongoing projects in the kingdom at $1.5 trillion by the end of October 2023

Mena steel demand to rise over next two years

Steel demand in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region is expected to accelerate in 2024 and 2025 after a significant slowdown in the past two years, the World Steel Association (WSA) said in a report. Demand is forecast to rise by just over 4 percent and 2.6 percent year on year to 57 […]

The Omani government has plans for development in Muscat, as does the Al Fayha United Development

Oman real estate ‘in good health despite drop in deals’

Higher interest rates are hitting Oman’s real estate industry, but economists are confident that a drop in transactions in January does not signal the start of a downturn in the sector. The value of real estate deals in the sultanate fell by more than 20 percent to OR208 million ($540 million) in January, compared to […]

The total value of housing benefits disbursed since the Abu Dhabi Housing Authority was established in 2012 is more than AED149 billion

Housing benefit for Abu Dhabi citizens tops $500m

Abu Dhabi has handed out over AED2 billion ($500 million) worth of housing benefits to citizens across the emirate. The first benefits package of the year, to coincide with the Eid Al Fitr celebrations, includes housing loans, ready-built houses and residential land grants. Thety will help 1,400 Emiratis. Additionally, senior citizens, retirees with low incomes, […]

City, Architecture, Building Abu Dhabi alternative investment fund Lunate and Saudi Arabia-based Olayan will each own 24.5 percent equity interest in ICDBP ICD Brookfield Place Dubai

Lunate and Olayan buy into Dubai’s ICD Brookfield Place

Dubai’s sovereign wealth fund Investment Corporation of Dubai and Brookfield Corporation have sold a 49 percent stake in ICD Brookfield Place (ICDBP), the emirates’ largest office tower. Abu Dhabi alternative investment fund Lunate and Saudi Arabia-based Olayan will each own 24.5 percent equity interest in ICDBP. It is the largest institutional third-party single-asset real estate […]

Box, Ball, Baseball 2RD2M3G Young arab man smiling confident unpacking cardboard box at new home globe off-plan developers payment plan Dubai

Dubai developers tempt off-plan buyers with 1% payment

Dubai developers are offering 1 percent payment plans in an attempt to maintain interest in an increasingly crowded off-plan sales market and to delay an anticipated slowdown after years of record growth. Yet experts warn that this tactic carries significant risks, drawing parallels to the precedents set before the 2008 housing crash. Ziad Hinnawi, sales […]

This week Jubail Island Investment Company announced the AED4 billion Bada Al Jubail project on Jubail Island

Abu Dhabi real estate deals hit $4bn during first quarter

The value of real estate deals in Abu Dhabi reached almost AED16 billion ($4 billion) during the first quarter of the year as another beachfront community was launched in the emirate. There were over 5,000 sales and mortgage transactions in Abu Dhabi during the first three months of the year, according to data from the […]

UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Abu Dhabi's overall economy showed 3% growth last year compared with 2022

Abu Dhabi’s non-oil growth spurred by manufacturing

Abu Dhabi’s non-oil sector expanded by more than 9 percent last year with manufacturing and construction leading the way, according to new figures. The Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi issued preliminary GDP estimates for 2023, revealing non-oil growth of 9.1 percent – slightly down from 9.2 percent in 2022 – as the emirate’s overall economy improved […]