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UAE relaxes visa rules to boost property market

Friday, 1 July 2011 2:21 PM

Foreign nationals buying property in the United Arab Emirates are likely to benefit from plans to relax visa regulations.

Those from overseas looking to buy into the Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets will gain from a Government decision to extend what is currently a six-month visa to three years for those buying property, according to Reuters.

The visa change has been made with the intention of injecting life into the UAE's beleaguered property market.

The decision comes as a new report reveals real estate markets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi face further property price falls.

Dubai is likely to see prices fall by ten per cent by the end of the year while Abu Dhabi is likely to suffer from a further 20 per cent dip in the remainder of 2011, according to figures released by Kuwait’s Global Investment House.

The report also revealed that property prices in Dubai have already dropped 56 per cent since the end of 2008. In neighbouring Abu Dhabi, property prices have dropped by 45 per cent over the same period.

Dubai’s monarch Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum took the decision to relax visa regulations during a cabinet meeting earlier this week.

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