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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

A family dinner at home. Kuwait's planned mortgage law is expected to increase homeownership

Kuwait ready to move on long-awaited mortgage law

Kuwait is close to finalising a mortgage law that aims to increase homeownership among its citizens.  At present, only the government-controlled Kuwait Credit Bank (KCB) can provide property loans to Kuwaiti citizens and companies.  The law has been in planning since 2018, when the central bank submitted liberalisation proposals that would allow commercial banks to […]

A rendition of 2 Finsbury Avenue, which is being built in the City of London as a joint venture between Modon Holding, British Land and GIC

London tower project announced by Abu Dhabi’s Modon

A joint venture with property developer British Land and the Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC to develop a dual high-rise office-led tower project in central London has been announced by Abu Dhabi’s Modon Holding.  The partnership will deliver a 750,000 square feet mixed-use project at an office-led campus in Broadgate in the City of London. It […]

Legal experts say the volume of projects in the Middle East is causing 'issues within joint ventures'

Mena construction industry braced for rise in disputes

Construction professionals working in the Middle East and North Africa are bracing themselves for a surge in disputes, driven by delays, cost overruns and changes in scope, research has found. In a survey of Mena businesses including contractors and developers, more than 80 percent of the 95 respondents said they anticipated a rise in disputes […]

Speaking at the Real Estate Future Forum in Riyadh, NHC CEO Mohammad Albuty said NHC is on track to meet its 2025 house-building target within months

Saudi Arabia’s NHC explores floating subsidiaries

Saudi Arabia’s National Housing Company (NHC) is exploring the possibility of launching initial public offerings (IPOs) for many of its subsidiaries. They include NHC Innovation, the company’s digital arm that was launched this week. NHC said it was meant to improve services for a customer base that has grown to 20 million across 10 different […]

ajman real estate

Ajman real estate deals rise 21% to $5.6bn in 2024

The value of real estate transactions in the northern emirate Ajman exceeded AED20.5 billion ($5.6 billion) in 2024, rising 21 percent year on year, according to official data. Some 15,125 real estate transactions took place, the UAE’s state-run Wam news agency reported. Omar bin Omair Al Muhairi, director-general of the Department of Land and Real […]

saudi holy cities property

Saudi Arabia opens up holy cities to foreign property investors

Saudi Arabia’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that foreigners will be allowed to invest in companies that own real estate in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The CMA said the decision would “stimulate investment” and “enhance the attractiveness and efficiency of the capital market”. It added that the reform would help the […]

Gonio Marina is a 260-hectare beach-front and marina development that will include branded residences, hotels and retail parks

Eagle Hills signs $5.7bn deal to develop projects in Georgia

Abu Dhabi developer Eagle Hills has announced plans to invest more than €5.5 billion ($5.7 billion) in two projects in Georgia.  It signed an agreement with the Georgian government to develop waterside projects in Tbilisi and Batumi.  The Krtsanisi Park in Tbilisi will be a riverside mixed-used project of residences and retail spaces that will […]

Investment in Dubai's real estate sector reached AED526 billion through 217,000 transactions in 2024

Dubai real estate deals surge 20% to record $207bn in 2024

The value of real estate transactions in Dubai surged 20 percent year on year to AED761 billion ($207.2 billion) in 2024, official data showed. The record performance was driven by the emirate’s dynamic economy, robust infrastructure and progressive policies, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported. The number of real estate transactions rose 36 percent […]

Architecture, Building, Condo

National Housing Company announces record revenue

The Saudi government-backed National Housing Company (NHC) achieved record revenues of SAR26 billion ($6.93 billion) in 2024 and hopes to double that figure for 2025.  The company’s total revenues for 2024 was higher than the combined revenues it made in 2023 and 2022. It added 600,000 jobs to the Saudi economy last year and plans […]

Suburb, Architecture, Building

Sharjah property market beats 2008 peak with $11bn deals

Real estate deals in Sharjah rose 48 percent year on year to AED40 billion ($10.9 billion) in 2024, breaching the 2008 property peak. The robust performance was led by a surge in the number of investors across the globe driven by the emirate’s attractive investment environment and stable economic climate, the UAE state-run Wam news […]

The Al Nakhla compound bought by Sarcc is set in 250,000 sq m of gardens

PIF worker housing company buys luxury compound

Smart Accommodation for Residential Complexes Company (Sarcc), the company established to provide housing for workers employed on major projects, has bought a luxury residential compound in Riyadh.  Sarcc acquired Al Nakhla Residential Resort in Riyadh for SR2.5 billion ($667 million).  The development, located in northern Riyadh, has more than 600 apartments and over 500 villas.   […]

A residential street in Istanbul. Turkish house sales rose in December and the trend is expected to continue

Turkish house sales rise as interest rates fall

Turkish house sales rebounded strongly in 2024, driven in part by a surge in December prompted by a long-anticipated interest rates cut, and further reductions in borrowing costs are expected to fuel appetite in the market this year.  Residential sales increased 20 percent last year, with just under 1.48 million units sold, up from the […]

Jeddah Economic Company reached an agreement with Saudi Binladin Group in October 2024 to continue developing the Jeddah Tower

Jeddah Tower to cost $26bn as work restarts

Saudi Arabian royal and billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal has revealed that the Jeddah Tower, which will be the world’s tallest structure, will cost nearly 100 billion riyals ($26 billion) to complete over the next three and half years. Construction has officially resumed on the project after it was paused in 2018. “We are back,” […]

Saudi residential prices are rising as both nationals and expats seek suitable properties amid a growing population

Saudi residential costs to keep rising with demand

The cost of buying and renting residential and commercial property in Saudi Arabia is likely to continue to increase throughout 2025 and beyond, analysts say.  Supply has not been able to keep up with the growing demand for housing, concentrated in Riyadh where an itinerant young population, increased economic activity in the non-oil sector, and […]

City, Urban, Metropolis The project will develop an abandoned industrial area, creating a new city quarter with retail, business, school and sports facilities

Eagle Hills signs contract for Budapest redevelopment

Abu Dhabi-based developer Eagle Hills has signed a real estate purchase agreement with Hungary to start work on transforming a rundown area of Budapest.  The project, spanning an area of 100 hectares, will have a development cost of more than €12 billion ($12.3 billion), the developer said in a statement.  The project is supported by the […]

A total of 457 plots are eligible for conversion to freehold on Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Jaddaf in Dubai

Dubai expands freehold areas to attract new investment

Private property owners along Sheikh Zayed Road, extending from the Trade Centre Roundabout to the Water Canal and Al Jaddaf, will be allowed to convert their ownership status to freehold to all nationalities. A total of 457 plots are eligible for conversion to freehold. This includes 128 plots on Sheikh Zayed Road and 329 plots […]

Traffic on Al Wahda Street in Sharjah, the main route connecting to Dubai. Many Dubai workers commute from Sharjah

‘Safe’ Sharjah attracts Kuwaiti investors to $950m project

The emirate of Sharjah has been praised as “safe and business-friendly” by a Kuwaiti developer who has formed a partnership to develop a AED3.5 billion ($950 million) housing project in its burgeoning local property market. Talal Al-Bahar, vice-chairman and CEO of Kuwait Real Estate Company (Aqarat), said that investors were attracted to Sharjah because of […]

Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners and Eagle Hills have agreed to build a luxury hotel and apartment complex in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade

Eagle Hills plans Trump hotel project with Kushner

The Abu Dhabi-based developer Eagle Hills and Affinity Partners, an investment firm founded by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have agreed to build a luxury hotel and apartment complex in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade.  The project, on the site of the former Yugoslav defence ministry, will feature a 175-room Trump hotel as its centrepiece, and 1,500 […]

Dubai's Emaar reported a 30% jump in annual revenues for the first three quarters of 2024 to AED23.8bn

Dubai’s Emaar confirms talks to sell stake in Indian unit

Emaar Properties, Dubai’s largest developer, has confirmed talks with companies in India, including Adani Group, for a possible stake sale in its Indian subsidiary. The valuation and other terms of a potential transaction are not finalised, the developer said in a Dubai bourse filing on Thursday. The clarification followed a news article by Mint, an […]

Turkey needs to build 250,000 houses a year to meet rental housing demand

Turkey to build low-cost housing to ease rent pressures

Turkey has unveiled a new scheme to provide affordable homes for low-income earners and first-time buyers aimed at easing inflationary pressures generated by rising rents and helping to support the housing sector. Vice president Cevdet Yılmaz announced on Friday that state housing agency TOKİ would be overseeing the new low-cost housing programme, with work to […]