In recent years, a lack of liquidity, over-
supply and low investor confidence have
hamstrung the Gulf’s real estate sector,
preventing developers from beginning new
projects or, in some cases, from completing
existing projects. Not all Gulf countries
have been hit equally hard by an inability
to raise financing for new developments,
but all have felt the pain to some extent.
The mechanisms used by legislators
for stimulating the real estate sector
have likewise varied from country to
country. Governments have typically
taken a macro view, concentrating
on targeting infrastructure spending
to boost the real estate sector’s
prospects, while the private sector has
undergone comprehensive restructuring.
Banks, too, have had to find innovative
ways to encourage borrowing on both
the supply-side and demand-side without
leaving themselves open to sizeable losses
of the type encountered during the slump.
Mazaya Monthly Real Estate Report
February 2014
Much work is left still to be done
by the public and private sector
developers, and by the region’s banks.
Al Mazaya Holding Company report
believes that although the real estate
sector is now in recovery after emerging
in 2013 from the slump caused by the
global financial crisis, growth rates vary
between the countries of the GCC,
as does the balance between supply
and demand and investor confidence.
In recent months, strong oil prices have
certainly helped to see increased flows
of liquidity into real estate, as has the
signing off by the region’s governments
of budgets designed to pump money into
large scale infrastructure projects and to
reinforce confidence in the banking sector.
EnthusiasmforinvolvementintheGulf’sreal
estate sector is returning as mega projects
such as the preparations for the Qatar
2022 World Cup and Dubai’s World Expo
2020 make headlines around the world.
2
The Gulf’s real estate sector
will see a vital inflow of
liquidity in 2014.
