DUBAI: Dubai's real estate watchdog canceled as many as 217 registered property projects over the past two years after the burst of the property and asset bubble, according to information in a prospectus for Dubai's planned bond issue. The properties were unlikely to be completed, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) determined, after a review of 450 projects in the emirate. It also said 237 were expected to be completed in due course. Dubai is planning a benchmark sovereign dollar issue in the coming days, partly to fund its deficit as it scrambles to restore its finances since the 2009 debt crisis. The unrated emirate has set up a new $5 billion Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) program. Dubai's total value of real estate sale transactions dropped to AED119.4 billion ($32.5 billion) last year compared with AED152.9 billion in 2009. The sector has been hit hard by the downturn, with projects put on hold or canceled.
