Industry experts are set to debate if Dubai is entering another bubble with its property market now gaining momentum and what needs to be done to maintain a sustainable growth path at a summit, to be held in October.

The Global Real Estate Summit will take place alongside Cityscape Global, the Middle East’s largest international real estate event, from October 8 to 10 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Tariq Ramadan, chairman of UAE real estate and business conglomerate, Tharaa Holding, and a headline panellist at the summit, said some speculation has returned to the market, while the large amount of cash transactions continue to cause headaches for regulators looking to curb sharp price increases.

“The laws and other regulatory reforms made by the Dubai Land Department and the Real Estate Regulatory Agency have provided a sufficient and transparent environment for Dubai real estate investors, but more importantly, they have provided the much needed protection for investors by making developer requirements more secure,” said Ramadan.

“However, as an open international market, it is hard for authorities to put restraints on demand to avoid another property bubble, especially since more than 75 per cent of Dubai real estate transactions are cash deals. This means the use of interest rates and other constraints on loans will have minimum impact on overall demand.”

According to the Dubai Land Department, real estate transactions in Dubai were up 63 per cent year-on-year for the first quarter of 2013, reaching $12 billion, highlighting growing investor confidence in the emirate’s property market.

Ramadan said that Dubai’s open market policy and regulatory framework introduced over the past few years has been key to the emirate’s real estate revival, but warned that any interference with current policy to temper escalating demand could impact its credibility and reduce investor confidence.
 
Other events running alongside the summit include Mena Mortgage and Affordable Housing Congress, which will take place from October 8 to 9 and Future Cities, an event for sustainable urban development.

According to the United Nations, one in five people living in the Mena region is classified as youth, between the ages of 15 to 24, bringing the total of number of youth in the region to nearly 90 million and creating unprecedented demand for affordable and social housing communities.

“Affordable housing is now considered seriously by both developers and the government and I think that we will see improvements in this segment to enable better access to good quality housing at the right price for the younger population in the Mena region,” said Chris Seymour, partner and head of EC Harris, a property and social infrastructure consultancy firm.

“Improvement in the maturity of real estate in the region is evidenced by the co -existence of premium, secondary and tertiary sector markets. This should be looked at as healthy, and a good indicator of sustainable growth in the region,” added Seymour. - TradeArabia News Service