Since the construction business began feeling the chill in late 2008, developers have put on hold or cancelled a total of 566 projects comprising 29 per cent of all those planned across the UAE’s office, hotel, residential and retail sectors, Proleads said.
“In the worldwide shakeout, no region has been immune and, as a result, a strong element of realism has entered the real estate investment landscape,” said Chris Speller, Cityscape Group Director.
The report was based on a study that Proleads made for organisers of the Cityscape Dubai property exhibition set to take place at the Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Centre on October 5-8 2009.
With total projects worth $ 900 billion, including those put on hold or cancelled, the UAE accounts for 60 per cent of the $ 1.5 trillion of total projects in all member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The UAE accounts for 46 per cent of the GCC’s total of 3,000 projects, the report said.
While some of Dubai’s major property plans are among those that developers in the UAE have dropped, the Proleads database shows a continuing high level of activity in the Emirates that would be “the envy of many” economies elsewhere, Speller said.