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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

Dar Global CEO Ziad El Chaar at the London Stock Exchange. The company will develop Trump Towers in Jeddah and Dubai

Dar Global reports H1 2024 loss as revenue drops 60%

Developer Dar Global, a Saudi-listed Dar Al Arkan subsidiary, recorded a loss in the first half of 2024 after revenues fell nearly 60 percent year on year. The company, also listed on the London Stock Exchange, reported losses of nearly $13 million between January and June, compared to a profit of $21 million a year […]

Why Birmingham is the place to invest in the UK

Strategically located in the centre of England and home to the largest economy outside London, Birmingham is a prosperous, high-growth investment city and one of the UK’s most important regional hubs.  But it is the city’s future growth projections that make it such an exciting investment opportunity. Birmingham is experiencing unparalleled growth, positioning itself as […]

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Saudi Arabia is investing in the development of a sports culture and infrastructure; the first of Melee's Al Khobar social sports club is scheduled to be completed first

Egyptian developer invests $1bn in Saudi sports clubs

Egyptian real estate developer Melee will spend SAR4.5 billion ($1.2 billion) to establish three new sports clubs in the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar, according to a company executive. The club in Al Khobar is slated to be first in line for completion before the end of the year, Gasser Bahgat, Melee […]

Gulf London property Staple Inn

Gulf investors put $100m into London property fund

Gulf investors have given $100 million to a shariah-compliant fund run by the alternative asset manager Rasmala Investment Bank in Dubai to spend on the London residential property market. Adnan Adil, an investment director at the bank, told Citywire that he has seen interest from Gulf investors already well acquainted with real estate in London […]

The DEC expansion aims to triple the economic contribution of Dubai’s Mice sector to AED54 billion annually by 2033

Dubai allocates $2.7bn to expand Exhibition Centre

The Dubai government has approved an AED10 billion ($2.72 billion) expansion of the Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC) at Expo City to strengthen its position in the multi-billion-dollar regional events and exhibition sector. The expansion, which will take place in three phases, will make DEC the region’s largest indoor exhibition and events destination, the UAE state-run […]

Emaar Misr's Alamein hotel in Marassi

Dubai’s Emaar pledges Egypt development worth $1 billion

Property developer Emaar plans to invest $1 billion in Egypt in the next 12 months, according to a senior executive. Mohamed Alabbar, the Dubai-based company’s founder, shared the news in an interview with an Arabic-language news outlet, saying the new injection of funds by Egyptian affiliate Emaar Misr Development would build on about $20 billion […]

Saudi Arabia’s new investment of $5bn will be separate from its deposits with the central bank, Egypt's prime minister Mostafa Madbouly said

Egypt explores new mega deals like Ras El-Hekma

Egypt is planning new developments along the Red Sea coast, with at least five new areas identified for deals similar to Ras El-Hekma, prime minister Mostafa Madbouly has said. The UAE sovereign fund ADQ unveiled plans in February to invest $35 billion to build the “largest new city” in Egypt to promote tourism and drive […]

Sharjah is seen as a more affordable alternative to Dubai, making its real estate attractive

Foreign investors help Sharjah real estate thrive

Sharjah’s real estate sector recorded 22 percent growth in the number of foreign investors during the first half of the year compared with the same period last year, attracting investors from 100 different nationalities. The number of properties traded by foreign investors in the emirate during the first six months of this year reached almost […]

The Mubadala and Aldar tie-up will include a retail platform to oversee properties such as Yas Mall

Mubadala and Aldar reveal $8bn property collaboration

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and its largest property developer, Aldar, have joined forces to develop and manage more than AED30 billion ($8.17 billion) worth of real estate across the emirate. The partnership, announced Wednesday, will be structured through four joint ventures. It will be owned 60 percent by Aldar and 40 percent by Mubadala, […]

Lionel Messi poses for a photo at Dubai Expo 2020. He and his Argentina teammates will soon be appearing on 'giant billboard on Sheikh Zayed Road' to advertise property

Project stardust: why Dubai developers still want celeb tie-ins

Lionel Messi, Rohit Sharma and Chris Hemsworth are just some of the famous faces who have promoted UAE real estate in recent years. Superstar sportsmen and Hollywood heroes do not come cheap, but are they really a good investment for developers or just an excuse for the CEO to get a selfie?  Many industry observers […]

Saudi real estate Saudi property

Saudi property market grows despite flurry of new units

The delivery of thousands of new residential units in Riyadh and Jeddah in the first half of the year failed to dent continued growth in Saudi property values and rents. A combined 27,500 units came onto the market from January to June in Saudi Arabia’s two largest cities, bringing the total residential stock to about […]

Scuba diving in the Red Sea off Egypt. The Ras Banas headland is close to the St John's coral reef system, a scuba-diving hotspot

Egypt offers Red Sea peninsula for development

Egypt has started promoting another sizeable Red Sea peninsula, the Ras Banas headland, to tourism developers. Egypt’s minister of housing and urban communities Sherif El Sherbiny said on Saturday that the area is being offered in a deal similar to the Ras El Hekma scheme on the Mediterranean coast agreed in February.  The state retained […]

A water taxi in Dubai's Business Bay, where off-plan real estate prices surged in 2023

Prices stabilise in Dubai’s off-plan market as supply grows

Prices for off-plan real estate in Dubai are stabilising following a spike in 2023 as developers bring more projects to the market. Property prices for off-plan purchases in areas such as Dubai Hills, Business Bay and Jumeirah Village Circle increased by as much as 30 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year. In August, […]

Students in shared accommodation. According to one expert, international investors have put more money into student housing than any other US real estate asset

Investors size up Gulf student housing after US success

Gulf entities have invested billions of dollars in student housing in the United States over the past few years, and are now considering making the same play locally. Accommodation for university students has become a hot asset class amid demographic growth fueled by the millennial generation, which recently passed the baby boomers to become the […]

Rents in the area surrounding Abu Dhabi's Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium are around 20 to 30% higher than in nearby neighbourhoods

GCC stadium projects have multifaceted impact on real estate

Entertainment and sports-focused construction across the Gulf is most likely to push property prices up despite bringing more traffic and noise, according to industry observers. A few of the region’s many projects include the 47,000-spectator Aramco stadium in Saudi Arabia’s Al Khobar, large amusement parks in Qatar and Kuwait, and the region’s inaugural ballpark on […]

A view of King Abdullah Economic City. Developer Emaar EC says it "stands at a vital inflection point"

Emaar EC’s new strategy to steer financial recovery

Emaar the Economic City (Emaar EC), the master developer of King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) in Saudi Arabia, has initiated a SAR8.7 billion ($2.3 billion) turnaround plan a month after its first-half 2024 losses showed an almost five-fold increase from 2023. A capital optimisation plan will allow the Saudi-listed company to restructure its SAR3.8 billion in bank facilities. […]

Visitors at the real estate exhibition Seredo 2024 held in Jeddah in May. Saudi Arabia is targeting 70% homeownership by 2030

Saudi Arabia woos US investors to bolster housing sector

As growth in mortgage lending in Saudi Arabia runs up against local liquidity constraints, several US investment giants are looking to step in. After a visit by Saudi officials to the US at the end of August, household names such as BlackRock and King Street Capital signed preliminary agreements with the Saudi Real Estate Refinance […]

Construction work in Dubai Marina. With central locations filling up, developers are having to look for plots away from the city’s core

Developers race to secure more land in Dubai

Land sales in Dubai have been on a steep incline since the start of the year, signalling more development activity to come. According to figures shared with AGBI by real estate brokerage fäm Properties, 1,396 plots changed hands in August, for a total value of AED15 billion ($4 billion). In January, 473 plots were sold […]

A shot from a UN Habitat animation showing the Ras El-Hekma development. Property in the region is being snapped up before any building has started

ADQ’s Egypt project lights fire under region’s real estate

The $35 billion investment by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ in Egypt’s tourism sector appears to have spurred a jump in real estate transactions on the country’s Mediterranean coast. In February ADQ unveiled its plan to build Egypt’s “largest new city” in Ras El-Hekma, and develop the coastal region into a Mediterranean vacation […]

real estate transparency Reem Island Abu Dhabi

Only two bright spots for real estate transparency in Mena

Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia have climbed higher in a biennial ranking of the most transparent real estate markets in the world, as local authorities push to open up their markets in a bid to appeal to foreign investors. But the UAE and Saudi Arabia are the only bright spots for transparency in the […]

Boulevard business park Riyadh

Saudi Arabia sets up new business park in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia launched a new business park in Riyadh this week, backed by more than SAR1 billion ($270,000) in funding, in an effort to stimulate foreign investment and local job creation.   The Boulevard Business Park is located in Riyadh’s Boulevard district which was recently host to the first e-sports ‘World Cup’, adding 60,000 square metres […]