Gulf region property market to outperform: consultants

Middle East investment funds believe the regional property market will outperform other regions in the world, with UAE and Saudi Arabia on top.

Dubai Towers - Doha at Cityscape.

DUBAI // More than half of Middle East investment funds and developers believe that the regional property market will outperform other regions in the world over the next several years, according to an international property consultancy. Of those, the majority believe the UAE and Saudi Arabia are the strongest market within the region. The investor sentiment survey involved 350 developers, sovereign wealth funds and high-net worth individuals, according to Jones Lang Lasalle, the consultancy.

"Maturing markets is the key theme here," said Ian Ohan, head of investment transactions at the regional office of Jones Lang Lasalle. "Investors are looking for strong capital growth in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, reflecting their robust economic potential and more nascent stages in the real estate cycle," he said. "The issue of market transparency is high on the agenda of investors. This is being aggressively addressed through sustained government initiatives including the enacting of international best-practice legislation and the enforcement of strong corporate governance initiatives," he added.

The report found that regional investors believed that global investors were "least positive" towards Western European property markets with only three per cent believing it would be the best performing region. The survey found that the majority of respondents also felt that the US and European markets would not witness a "major improvement" in the short term. About 45 per cent of respondents said Middle East investors could benefit the most from the global financial crisis by buying assets in other countries. And despite overall good sentiment about local markets, about 20 per cent believed the world economic situation was having a "significant impact" on property markets in the Middle East.