Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Real Estate

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

Real Estate overview

Real Estate news

Outdoors, Arbour, Garden

PIF launches digital platform for Saudi Arabia’s real estate sector

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has launched the National Real Estate Registration Services Company (RER), a new digital platform which aims to develop the kingdom’s local real estate sector. The platform will be developed in cooperation with the Real Estate General Authority, and other government entities, the sovereign wealth fund said in a statement. […]

Aldar Properties acquires security services provider for $34m

Abu Dhabi-listed Aldar Properties has acquired Spark Security Services, a UAE-based security services provider, for AED 125 million ($34.03 million). The all-cash transaction strengthens the UAE developer’s property and integrated facilities management platform, WAM, the UAE state news agency, reported. These security services will add significant value to Aldar’s AED 23 billion ($6.3 billion) portfolio […]

Empowering more Emirati women to invest in real estate

Latifa Bin Haider tells AGBI about her mission to transform investment opportunities for women in Dubai’s booming real estate market With the launch of Baytuki, a new crowdfunding platform, Emirati social entrepreneur Latifa Bin Haider aims to enable Emirati women of all ages and income brackets to secure financial prosperity by making micro investments in […]

UAE banks’ exposure to real estate sector declines

UAE banks have seen a reduction in real estate and construction exposure as cash buyers dominate the market. Exposure to property sectors decreased by 30 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 19.8 percent, according to the latest UAE Banking Pulse Q2 2022 by professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M). “We have been following this from Q1 […]

Landscape, Nature, Outdoors

Saudi’s Rua Al Madinah project to add 47,000 hotel rooms by 2030

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched the infrastructure works and master plan for the Rua Al Madinah project, the state-owned Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.   The project will cover 1.5 million square metres of land east of the Prophet’s Mosque, adding over 47,000 hotel rooms by 2030. Almost 83,000 square metres of […]

Northacre sees ‘pent-up demand’ for London from GCC investors

The Dubai-owned developer behind plans to transform the former Metropolitan Police HQ in London says it is seeing “lots of pent-up demand” from GCC-based investors. Walid El-Hindi, group CEO of Northacre, a subsidiary of Dubai-based Shuaa Capital, told AGBI that London remains a “safe haven” for buyers from the Gulf and wider Middle East region. […]

Jumeirah Bay Island is among the Dubai property hotspots favoured by richest investors

‘Cash is king’ as wealthy real estate investors target Dubai

Cash is becoming king again for Dubai’s residential real estate as wealthy overseas investors continue to splash out on luxury homes. By value, mortgaged buyers for villas and apartments now account for just 18 percent of the market. Last year the figure was close to 40 percent while in 2007 just over 50 percent of […]

Damac's data centre company Edgnex has started work on a Riyadh facility

Dubai’s Damac to invest $990m in data centres in Germany

Dubai-based conglomerate Damac Group is planning to invest $990 million in data centres and technology acquisitions in Germany. The company is currently on a fact-finding expedition in the European country to identify opportunities. “It’s a very interesting time now in Germany, especially for future-oriented industries and the country has a lot of opportunities in sectors […]

Riyadh-based Dar Al Arkan plans to complete DaVinci Tower in Dubai this year

Dar Al Arkan predicts 20% climb in construction costs

Construction costs in Saudi Arabia are expected to soar by nearly 20 percent and drive down industry margins. Gigaproject developments are at the heart of the kingdom’s economic vision to diversify away from its dependence on hydrocarbons.  Saudi Arabia is currently the largest driver of construction activity in the Middle East region accounting for around […]

Dome, Architecture, Building

Apollo acquires $400m minority equity stake in Aldar subsidiary

NYSE-listed Apollo Global Management’s investment vehicles acquired an 11.1 percent minority stake in Aldar Investment Properties, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-listed Aldar Properties, for $400 million (AED1.47 billion). The acquisition is part of Apollo’s previously announced $1.4 billion investment into Aldar’s transformational growth initiatives, UAE state-owned news agency WAM reported. The transaction involved issuing $400 […]

Dubai tenants consider ownership amid record rental surge

Dubai tenants are considering a move into home ownership as residential rents surged by nearly 24 percent in the year to July, the highest annual rate of growth for more than eight years. Double-digit price rises for apartments was widespread across the city but were supercharged in Palm Jumeirah, Downtown and Dubai Marina which saw […]

Land, Nature, Outdoors

Turkish house sales drop 12.9% in July as Russians top buyer list

Turkish home sales fell 12.9 percent in July on the year to 93,902 houses, with sales to foreigners dropping 12.4 percent, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed on Tuesday. Russians topped the list of foreigners with 1,028 houses purchased, reflecting how many have sought a financial haven in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of […]

Face, Person, Human

Silicon Valley investors back Adam Neumann’s property firm

Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz said on Monday it would be investing in Adam Neumann’s residential real estate company Flow, backing the WeWork Inc co-founder who has often drawn criticism for his allegedly erratic management style. The investment was announced in a blog post by Marc Andreessen, co-founder and general partner at the venture capital […]

High Rise, City, Urban

Dubai Mall owner Emaar mulls sale of e-commerce business

The board of Dubai’s Emaar Properties, which owns the Dubai Mall, will meet on Thursday to discuss the sale of its e-commerce fashion business, the company said today. The meeting, disclosed in a statement, will be held a week after Emaar announced a $2 billion cash and stock buyout of a joint venture partner in […]

Aerial view of Mecca beyond the Great Mosque

Saudi allows worldwide Muslims to buy properties in holy cities

A new ruling allowing Muslims from around the world to buy property in Islam’s holiest cities could be a “game changer” for Saudi Arabia’s real estate market, according to insiders. Ziad El Chaar, vice chairman of Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development, Saudi Arabia’s largest listed developer, told AGBI: “One of the main developments we’re […]

St Regis Residences in Dubai

Dubai developer Emaar’s Q2 profit doubles on higher revenue

Emaar Properties, Dubai’s largest developer, reported a net profit of AED 2.06 billion ($560 million) for the second quarter of 2022, up 128 percent year-on-year, as revenues rose amid new visa regulations and a growing economy. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) jumped 53 percent year-on-year to AED 2.93 billion in the three-month […]

Dubai’s Nakheel plans to raise $4.6bn loan to refinance debt

Dubai state developer Nakheel plans to raise a loan of about AED 17 billion ($4.6 billion) to refinance existing debt, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The company is seeking financing from a group of lenders, including Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD and Mashreqbank.  The banks arranging the loan are also asking global […]

Qatar residential rents surge on higher World Cup demand

Residential rents in Qatar accelerated in April and May 2022 as landlords took advantage of a spike in demand ahead of the FIFA World Cup, Cushman and Wakefield said in its Q2 property market report. Apartment rents increased on average 30 percent year-on-year in June 2022. “The surge in rent is based on a short-term […]

Boat, Vehicle, Transportation

Dubai ruler becomes second-largest investor in Emaar

Emaar Properties said on Thursday it was buying out its joint venture partner in a Dubai real estate development, in a AED 7.5 billion ($2 billion) deal that will see Dubai’s ruler become the developer’s second-largest shareholder. Dubai’s Emaar, the emirate’s top developer, said in a statement it had reached a deal with Dubai Holding, […]

Dubai villa prices pass 2014 peak amid influx of overseas money

Villa prices in many parts of Dubai have surpassed the previous peak of 2014, fuelled in large part by a “relentless” influx of capital from wealthy overseas investors. Real estate consultants ValuStrat reported that although villa price rises are slowing, average values are now at levels last seen in early 2014. Faisal Durrani, partner – […]

The real estate sector has seen strong growth recently

UAE’s property rules target money laundering via virtual assets

The UAE has introduced new real estate reporting requirements as part of its fight against money laundering. The clampdown is primarily aimed at transactions involving virtual assets, and is a partnership between the Ministry of Economy (MoE), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The new rules will cover the […]