Dubai property market sees $33.5bn worth of transactions

Despite the recent economic crisis, the level of transactions in the Dubai property market reached $33.5 billion during 2010, new figures have shown. The news may encourage more people to invest in property in the UAE, with it suggesting that confidence in the region is increasing. Indeed, according to head of the emirate's Land Department, Sultan Butti Bin Mejrin, the numbers were "promising, considering the crisis". Since their peak which occurred in mid-2008, real estate values in Dubai have slumped by 62 per cent after the global credit crisis saw speculative demand fall. However, the latest figures from Deutsche Bank show that real estate prices in Dubai fell 1.7 per cent in February. The organisation claimed that the emirate's property market is still not back on track and could see declines of up to 30 per cent in next two years. "We do not see any improvement in fundamentals that could trigger a recovery," the bank said in its report.