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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

Real Estate overview

Real Estate news

Arada’s Australian-born group CEO Ahmed Alkhoshaibi will spearhead the Australian operations and business growth

Arada moves into Australia with first project set for 2025

UAE developer Arada is planning multiple projects, valued at AED6 billion ($1.6 billion) in Australia, adding more than 2,500 dwellings in Sydney, the country’s most populous city. The Dubai-based master developer announced that the first project will be launched next year, after opening its office in Sydney. Arada’s Australian-born group CEO Ahmed Alkhoshaibi will spearhead […]

A view of Royal Greens Golf and Country Club at KAEC. Developer Emaar EC's Revenue fell 74 percent year on year to SAR150m

King Abdullah Economic City developer’s losses at $185m

Emaar the Economic City (Emaar EC), the developer of King Abdullah Economic City near Jeddah, widened its losses in the first half of 2024 on higher finance costs and write-offs. Loss in the first half of the year reached SAR694 million ($185 million), compared with SAR76 million a year ago. Revenue fell 74 percent year […]

Dubai developer Emaar said property sales in the first half of 2024 hit a record high of AED31.5bn, rising 56 percent year on year

Emaar revenue jumps 17% as Dubai real estate thrives

Emaar Properties, the largest developer in Dubai, reported a net profit attributable to equity holders of AED5.3 billion ($1.4 billion) in the first half of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 8 percent. Revenue jumped 17 percent year on year to AED14.4 billion, thanks to high investor confidence and robust demand in Dubai’s real estate market. […]

The Wynn Al Marjan casino under construction in Ras Al Khaimah

Casino operator Wynn buys more land in Ras Al Khaimah

Wynn Resorts, the Las Vegas-based hospitality operator building the Gulf region’s first casino on Ras Al Khaimah’s Al Marjan Island, has closed a deal to bank an additional 70 acres of land in the emirate for future development. The disclosure was made during the company’s second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday. Wynn Resorts made a significant […]

A view of residential towers from Dubai's Palm Jumeirah. Cash buyers still dominate the property market but their power is waning, according to one expert

Mortgage buyers increase with Dubai’s rising rents

Dubai’s property market is shifting towards mortgages and away from the traditional image of cash buyers, with tenants seeking cost-effective alternatives to counter rising rental rates. A survey by mortgage consultancy Mortgage Finder indicates that mortgage buyers accounted for 43 percent of all ready sales transactions in the second quarter of 2024, up from 35 […]

Empower said total connected capacity rose to more than 1.53 million refrigeration tonnes in the first half of 2024

Empower revenues surge on growing real estate demand

Dubai-listed Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation, also known as Empower, posted an 11 percent year-on-year increase in revenue to AED814 million ($222 million) in the second quarter of 2024. The rise was fuelled by high demand and growing occupancy rates in housing projects. Net profit attributable to shareholders fell 6 percent to AED221 million in […]

Emaar Properties and Emaar Development took a hit in Monday’s trading, but ended Tuesday in the green

UAE real estate companies rebound after market turmoil

Real estate companies bore the brunt of Monday’s stock sell-off in the GCC, although prices showed significant signs of recovery on Tuesday. Dubai Financial Market closed on Monday down 4.5 percent, while Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul exchange was down 2.1 percent. Kuwait’s bourse was showing a negative of 2.13 percent on a day when $6.4 trillion […]

Bahrain residential property, real estate

Pressure on Bahrain’s residential property market as supply grows

Bahrain’s real estate sector is undergoing notable shifts as the residential market contends with stagnant prices and an increasing supply of units. With demand failing to keep pace with supply, experts warn of potential price drops if current trends persist.  Real estate services and investment firm CBRE Middle East estimates indicate that the freehold apartment […]

Stricter housing regulations are pushing up construction costs in Kuwait

Housing regulations amplify costs for Kuwait real estate

Kuwait’s real estate industry is grappling with increased construction and labour costs as a result of stricter housing regulations. Authorities have clamped down on basements and ground floor areas being used for worker accommodation, leading to a shortage of affordable housing for low-paid expatriate construction workers in central areas. The change has led to an […]

Dubai's real estate sector attracted 50,000 new investors during the first six months of 2024, with transactions totalling AED346 billion

Dubai to add 20,000 new housing units in H2 2024

As many as 20,000 residential units are expected to be delivered in Dubai in the second half of 2024. Almost 6,600 units were completed in the emirate between January and June this year, bringing the total number of units to 736,000, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported. Dubai reported more than 12 new project […]

Saudi real estate hiring

Saudi real estate hiring drops amid giga-project review

Saudi Arabia’s review of its many giga-projects dented real estate hiring in the country in the second quarter of this year, driving a larger decline across the GCC. The drop, revealed by Cooper Fitch’s latest Gulf Employment Index which tracks new hires, mirrors a broader slowdown in the Saudi property and construction markets. However, it […]

Construction cranes for a new residential area in the Bur Dubai and Creek neighbourhoods. Developers are bringing projects forward to meet demand

Supply shortage looms large in outlook for Dubai property

The Dubai residential real estate market remains one of the world’s best performers, but a shortage of supply is having an increasingly big impact on rents and sale prices. This is the picture that emerges from three real estate consultancies’ reports on the emirate’s market in the first six months of 2024.  Dubai had the […]

The Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. Aldar recently announced it would develop its first commercial building between the road and the DIFC

Aldar reports strong half-year performance

Strong interest from international buyers, an increasingly tight office sector and a record development backlog at the end of June helped Aldar Properties to double-digit profit and revenue growth for the first half of 2024.  Profit rose 57 percent year on year to AED3.3 billion, while revenue surged 73 percent to almost AED11 billion, the […]

The former HSBC building, 8 Canada Square, will become a a mixed-use development designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox

Canary Wharf’s evolution is a nod to QIA change of strategy

The futuristic designs for the former HSBC Holdings headquarters in London’s Canary Wharf may provide a glimpse into the strategy in recent years of one of its major shareholders – the Qatar Investment Authority. Reportedly a casualty of the Covid pandemic and subsequent shift to remote working, 8 Canada Square is to be turned into […]

City, Urban, Architecture

Interest in Saudi commercial space may be peaking

Weakening demand in Saudi Arabia’s commercial sector suggests the market could be reaching a plateau, a new survey indicates.  The Global Commercial Property Monitor report by the UK’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) found that demand for space rose by 20 percent in the second quarter of 2024, compared with a 53 percent rise […]

Qatar real estate

Large deals drive Qatar and Kuwait real estate in Q2 

Large one-off transactions masked an otherwise sluggish performance in the Qatari and Kuwaiti real estate markets in the second quarter of this year. The number of mortgage transactions in Qatar from April to June increased by more than 42 percent over the same period last year. Some 376 deals were signed for a total value […]

Work began on Jeddah Tower in 2013 but the project has met many obstacles

Three Saudi companies acquire fund behind world’s tallest tower

The Saudi Arabian fund behind what will be the tallest tower in the world has been acquired in a $1.8 billion (SAR6.8 billion) deal. Kingdom Holding Company, Sumuo Holding Company and Jeddah Economic Company (JEC) have signed an agreement to take ownership of the Al Inma Jeddah Economic Fund, which is currently wholly owned by […]

Mazaya Holding Oman fraud

Al Mazaya reports legal proceedings after alleged fraud

The Omani subsidiary of Al Mazaya Holding has uncovered alleged fraudulent activity by employees of the company, estimated at OR242,000 ($628,000). A criminal complaint has been filed by the Kuwait-based real estate development giant against “some of the company’s employees” regarding collections of the sale and rent of some units, according to filings on Boursa […]

Videos released last month show construction of the Royal Arts Complex at King Salman Park is well underway

Full steam ahead on ‘largest urban park in the world’

Saudi Arabia is forging ahead with construction of what it calls the “largest urban park in the world”, publishing videos of its first buildings under construction after a tunnel opened earlier this year.  King Salman Park in Riyadh is owned by the Public Investment Fund and was recently valued by real estate consultancy Knight Frank […]