Abu Dhabi, the capital and the second largest city in United Arab Emirates, has recently witnessed a series of rapid developments. The economy, which is mainly dependant on hydrocarbons for its economic wealth, has one of the highest GDP per capitas in the world. Abu Dhabi also has the largest share of oil reserves in the UAE; 95% of oil reserves and 92% of the gas. In order to diversify its economy, the UAE government has taken large steps to encourage oil revenue investments in manufacturing, tourism, agricultural and real estate industries to limit its dependence on the finite resource of oil.
The Abu Dhabi property market has witnessed a considerable improvement in buyer interest during the summer of 2009 compared to the beginning of the year. A healthy local stock market and the continued abundance of employment opportunities in the Emirates’ capital city are just two of the reasons for this resurgent confidence from long-term property investors in particular. An international real estate agency noted that high value transactions in the Al Reem Island and Al Raha Beach developments were a positive indication about recent investor trends, highlighting more reasonable asking prices as a lure for cash rich buyers.
The housing situation in Dubai and neighboring emirates is in for a nasty surprise. Following the recent introduction of new laws aimed at curbing speculation in the Dubai property market and preventing immigrant workers from being taken advantage of by dubious landlords, Dubai Municipality announced a 30-day deadline from Sunday for residents sharing villas to vacate them, giving the thousands of tenants a rude shock.
Omar bin Abdul Rahman, Head of the Building Inspection Section at the Dubai Municipality, said on Sunday that landlords must ensure that only one family lives in their villas. If they failed to comply with the new rules within the deadline, the municipality would slap fines up to Dh50,000 on them, the official said. The civic body had already said it would not take the responsibility of making the landlords refund the rents collected in advance. The deadline announced on Sunday is all set to land many tenants in deep trouble. “There cannot be any bachelors, labourers or more than one family in the villas. Though the campaign in this connection has been on for quite a while, the landlords will now have to ensure that regulations are complied within a month, that is 30 days,” Abdul Rahman said.
