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ABU DHABI / WAM
Around AED31 billion was generated through 10,000 plus real estate transact-ions across Abu Dhabi Emirate in first half of 2019, according to the first biannual report of the Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities (DPM).
“These results demonstrate the buoyant real estate market in Abu Dhabi,†Falah Al Ahbabi, Chairman of the DPM, commented, adding, “These figures support our vision to further community happiness thro-ugh sustainable urban gro-wth and municipal services. We believe that these figures show investors how well the Abu Dhabi real estate market is performing; the emirate remains highly comp- etitive in this sector, home to some of the best properties and developments across the Middle East and North Africa region.â€
He noted, “The release of this first indicators report is a continuation of our open approach aimed at raising transparency and enhancing the ease of doing business in the real estate market. Providing information to investors, real estate developers and landowners will enhance confidence and competitiveness regionally and internationally.â€
The report revealed that the real estate sector has generated a total of 6,374 property transactions valued at more than AED12.5 billion. The volume of mortgage transactions reflects the
confidence of banks in the sector, with 3,712 mortgage transactions worth over AED8.5 billion.
In terms of geographic locations where sales activity was the most dynamic, Al Reem Island topped the list with transactions worth more than AED4.371 billion, followed by Al Reef area with a value of over AED1.788 billion of transactions and Yas Island with more than AED1.597 billion worth of transactions. That was followed by Al Shamkha City with AED636 million of transactions, Khalifa City with AED357 million of transactions and Al Faqa Area with AED211 million of transactions.
In line with the Emirate’s vision to become one of the best places in the world to do business, invest, work, live, and visit, the Abu Dhabi Government modernised real estate laws in April 2019 to allow foreigner ownership of freehold property in designated investment zones.