Real property demand in the UAE remains robust even as the global banking institutions and governments continue to battle a slew of market downslides. The 7th R&R Local Property Show at the Crowne Plaza, Dubai opened on Thursday and the show has been sold out for months. The official opening was undertaken by Marwan Bin Ghalita, CEO of RERA, patron of the show and Dr Salem Al Shafiei, managing director of the Dubai Real Estate Institute, education partner. “We are delighted to be working with both RERA as patron and Dubai Real Estate Institute, education partners of the event. It is essential that we all work together in ensuring that consumer interests are protected when purchasing property and that they are being served by real estate professionals all working to a high standard. We value the role our exhibitors play in ensuring they all adhere to these standards and their desire to serve the market in a purely professional manner,” said Abdulla Al Noaimi, Event director For DSL Exhibitions. “Dubai Real Estate Institute's initiative to participate as Education Sponsors of the event is in line with our conviction that specialization and training of professionals is an imperative need in today's competitive global marketplace. The event will allow us to interact with diverse stakeholders to whom we offer our study models. Through our programs, based on global best practices and developed by prominent international universities, we aim to build capacity among drivers of the real estate industry across the region for moving the sector into its next growth phase,” commented Dr Salem Al Shafiei, managing director of DREI. As the first consumer focused show of Autumn, the show is the only locally focused event showcasing a wide array of local developers and agents from across the UAE. The focused has shifted from being a Dubai driven market to new markets offering consumers affordable housing and investment option; in particular Ajman remains a very popular investment destination Platinum sponsor for the event, Chapal World, master developers in Ajman, said: “Property prices in Ajman have risen by an average of 3 percent to 5 percent every month for the past two years. When Chapal launched our projects in February 2007 our average property selling price was AED300 per square foot. It is now AED625 to AED650 per square foot. In three months' time, we will bring them to a AED700 to AED750 per square foot. The property market is still in its primary stages in Ajman. We anticipate that when infrastructure is built and people can see more towers ready for handover Ajman's secondary market will surge,” said Khurram Wahid, director of Chapal. “Prices are still rising in Ajman and the demand is now increasing. More and more people have realized Ajman is a good and rising investment opportunity. This is good news as we can expect a steady future ahead of us,” ssaid Ikram Sheikh from Tricon Properties. “Investor interest in property as a secure investment in troubled economic times is the major factor, as both institutional as well as individual investors still see an opportunity for gains.”
