New residents keep property market going

Property agents and dealers in Dubai still have enough business to keep them occupied as the emirate is adding 10,000 residents to its population every month, delegates attending a lecture at the Capital Club Dubai heard yesterday.

Quoting recent figures available with the Dubai Statistics Centre, Linda Mahoney, CEO of property services company Better Homes, said the emirate's population exceeded 1.8 million in the first quarter of this year and even in these relatively strained economic times, it continues to add 10,000 people every month to its population.

"Dubai's continuing growth means that though the pace of expansion may have slowed after the financial crisis, companies involved in selling and leasing property, in particular, still have more than enough business to keep them occupied, and this does not appear set to change anytime soon," she said during her lecture at the club, which is one of the region's premier private business clubs and a member of the ENSHAA group of companies.

"Although the development of new properties has slowed, for as long as people continue to flock to Dubai, the UAE and the region, they will need places to live, shop, do business in and be entertained - and the real estate and construction areas will continue to provide such places," said Mahoney.

In 1986, when Better Homes was established, the population of Dubai was a little over 370,000, with built up areas to match. By 2006 this number had grown to just under 1.5 million. The real estate sector has had to keep pace with the rapid growth of Dubai.