Apr. EN 2019

7 In addition, the predicted increase in the value of real estate loans augurs well for growing demand and activity in the real estate market driven by continual declines in land prices. On the other hand, the economic sectors succeeded in maximising the benefit resulting from the increase in GDP at the end of 2018. In addition, the expansionary fiscal policy of the current year will be conducive to further stimulating the non-oil sectors, coupled with the recorded rise oil prices which improved in the fourth quarter of last year and stabilised during the first quarter of this year. The UAE Mazaya Monthly Real Estate Report - Week 2 - April 2019 economy during the first quarter of this year continued the successes achieved at the end of 2018. The real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 1.73%, hitting AED 1.442 trillion, driven by the improvement in international oil prices and non-oil sector growth, with retail and wholesome trade contributing 11.2% to GDP, financial services by 9.2%, while manufacturing industries’ contribution stood at 8.9% and construction activities at 8.3%, indicating a positive real growth on non-oil activities. The 4% increase in loans provided to the private sector by the end of February this year to AED1132.6 billion plays a key role in boosting the financial and economic performance of primary sectors, as high liquidity values are likely to reflect positively on the real estate and retail sectors and ultimately on other shared sectors. The value of sales and mortgage transactions recorded until the end of February reached AED 36.3 billion in Dubai, reflecting continued improvement in liquidity in the market.