The close eye on the real-estate sector as
described above stems from the strength
the sector adds to the national economy.
Despite successes achieved, the
Al Mazaya Weekly Report lists the
accumulated obstacles and challenges
especially characterizing some contracting
investment projects. The inability of the
urban planning to meet increasing market
demands for accommodation and the
allocation of land for residencies leads the
challenges hindering the expansion of the
real-estate sector. Thus for this sector to
grow, it isof utmost need toundertakebetter
urban planning and allocate the common
lands to prevent cases of uncertainty and
foster a more competitive environment for
bargaining on residence lands. Experts in
the Bahraini real-estate market state that
the announced urban plans meet only
10%-20% of the current market needs for
the lands allocated for accommodation.
Mazaya Monthly Real Estate Report - OCTOBER 2014
3
Theavailability of wideareas of common lands
vis-a-vis the slow pace of allocating lands for
accommodation purposes negatively affects
the supply of residential drawings. In this
current situation, it is proposed that a Higher
Regulatory Authority should be established to
better organize and upgrade the real-estate
sector, stand on the challenge met and
propose relevant resolutions. Establishing
this Higher Regulatory Authority is also
sought to perform the required review of
current regulation to meet the recent growing
demand and better utilize the positive
trends the real-estate sector is witnessing.
The Weekly Report of Al Mazaya
Holdings calls upon the need for more
State supervision and better coordination
between the public and private sectors to
achieve a more prosperous economy –
especially so that the real-estate sector
can pave the way to implement sustainable
development plans. It is worth noting that
real-estate activities in Bahrain are worth
more than 723 million BD (around USD
2 billion), a 44% increase compared with
the first midterm of 2013. A major volume
of the exchanges and finalized bargains
are streamlined towards residential
lands meeting the demand in Bahrain for
residential real-estate. The financial trends
of the Bahraini real-estate market estimate
upcoming growth in excess of BD 12
million for this market in the nearest lapses.
Similarly, the exchange rate in real-
estate
markets
suggests
further
improvements, rising up to 80%. The
real-estate figures also anticipate
contracting companies will introduce
more forthcoming residential plans to
push the market forward and stabilize it.
As for the mechanisms the brokers follow
in the real-estate market in Bahrain, the Al
Mazaya Weekly Report says they should
be more organized, laying the ground for
proper legal frameworks to be especially
enforced in this period so that all positive
trends may be best utilized, and maximum
economic benefits can be generalized
to the overall real-estate activities. As
with other markets in the region, the
Bahrain market suffers from intruders
which cause instability, fluctuations in
demand and supply, and increases in real-
estate prices, in a manner that does not
correspond to the actual market trends.
Within this context, the need is urgent
in Bahraini market, now more than
ever, for a full-scale legal statutory
framework, given its positive influence to
stabilize the real-estate market, add to
its growth and attract more investments.
