Funding boost for Abu Dhabi property

Next year could bring a return of confidence to the Abu Dhabi property sector after a series of government measures aimed at boosting liquidity and demand rounded off 2012.

The estate agency CBRE estimates Abu Dhabi rents are 63 per cent down on the market peak three years ago and they will fall even further over the coming months. Sammy Dallal / The National
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Next year could bring a return of confidence to the Abu Dhabi property sector after a series of government measures aimed at boosting liquidity and demand rounded off 2012.

On Monday, the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance's commercial buildings finance committee approved 245 loans for funding commercial buildings at a total cost of more than Dh3 billion (US$816.8 million).

Hamad Al Hurr Al Suwaidi, the chairman of the Department of Finance, said: "The finance would push the urban development forward towards the Abu Dhabi Government vision and strategy, provide proper Government finance to stimulate the real estate sector towards positive trends and help it to flourish and prosper so as to boost the macroeconomy."

The committee hopes the new funds it has put in place will enable Emiratis to develop commercial and investment land after being prevented from doing so by the lack of finance.

Last week, the Abu Dhabi Housing Authority was set up to develop housing programmes and regulations and create a property market database to support the restructuring of the residential sector, which has been hit by oversupply and a steep fall in prices.

The Tourism Development and Investment Company earlier this month announced that Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank would offer investors buying luxury homes on Saadiyat Island 100 per cent mortgages of up to Dh30m.

The estate agency CBRE estimated rents were down 63 per cent on the market peak three years ago. It predicted they would fall even further over the coming months.

* with agencies