Dubai Urged To Improve Property Dispute Resolution

Source : The Business Times, July 29, 2008

Emirate needs to do this to improve its ranking, says JLL

(DUBAI) Dubai needs to improve the way it handles dispute resolution in the real-estate industry if it is to improve its ranking in terms of transparency, said Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (JLL), the property and investment management company.

Internationally-recognised benchmarks that allow investors to compare performance across markets, and more financial instruments for real-estate investors will also help Dubai reach tier two in JLL's transparency rankings, Blair Hagkull, managing director for the Middle East and North Africa, told reporters in Dubai yesterday.

Dubai rose up JLL's bi-annual real-estate transparency ranking faster than any other market in 2008, to reach tier three, or semi-transparent, from tier four, or low- transparent, in 2006.

Dubai, the second-largest sheikhdom in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), became the first place in the Arab Gulf to allow foreigners to own property in 2002, sparking a US$2 trillion Gulf real-estate boom.

'Dispute resolution is a key aspect of what Dubai needs to do to reach tier two,' Mr Hagkull said. 'There also needs to be performance benchmarks and other ways to invest in real estate beyond buying actual properties.'

Dubai is the most transparent property market in the Middle East and North Africa, followed by Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, which are also tier three markets, and Saudi Arabia, which is tier four, according to JLL.

Dubai rental yields fell for a fifth straight month in July as the increase in property prices in the emirate outpaced gains in rents, a UAE-based investment bank reported.

Dubai's residential property prices rose 41 per cent from a year earlier, accelerating from an annual 40 per cent in May, Al Mal Capital PSC said on July 17. -- Bloomberg