Business Bureau, Gulf Today

The UAE property sector has got more strength after the government and the central bank announced various economic packages and incentives to mitigate the impact of Covid-19.

The UAE’s economic packages aimed at boosting the economic growth and keeping it secure against global fluctuations. The property sector in the country contributing massively to the national GDP and these new initiatives will increase the growth of the real estate market.

Real estate expert Walid Al Zarouni identified 5 advantages for the UAE real estate sector resulting from the Covid-19 global outbreak crisis.

Al Zarouni, who heads the ‘W Capital Real Estate Brokerage’, argued that the primary advantage is the unprecedented package of incentives and initiatives issued by the federal government, local governments and the central bank is that the UAE real estate sector - like other economic sectors - got more than expected from the initiatives and incentives to ensure moving to safety from the global crisis caused by the outbreak of the virus.

“Successive initiatives all affirm the determination of our prudent government to intervene in the critical time and response  directly in this urgent and exceptional circumstances. They also affirm that our nation, ”May Allah save it”, the wisdom of its leaders, the authenticity of its people, and the strength of its social fabric, are basic factors in dealing with challenges stem from crises, disasters and emergencies whatsoever,” he said.

Al Zarouni added that the real estate sector, with its great importance as one of the main economic sectors that affect the wider economy, has a special priority within the recent incentive plans aimed at providing all what is necessary to maintain economic and societal stability. The overall aims are to preserve and boost the economic growth and keeping it secure against global fluctuations. That’s why the sector received unprecedented large incentives and facilities from the UAECB including fees waivers and incentive packages.

He argued that cutting the interest rate would ease the investors through its positive impact on the real estate sector. At the same time, loosening the existing and new financing rules, especially in the real estate sector, and corporate and business loans, encourage developers to take bank loans and thus accelerate implementation steps in the projects. This will help the hand-over of units to customers on schedule, added to that adjusting the rates of housing finance for citizens and expatriates such as the down payment which is less than 5% that has been applied since 2013 according to the mortgage rules.

Al Zarouni pointed out that the second advantage is that the current exceptional situation is a good opportunity to renew the mechanisms of work in the real estate sector in general, which necessitates exploring the quality of the structural changes awaiting the sector after “Covid-19” crisis and preparing for a strong recovery.

The third advantage the real estate sector will get from the crisis is that it raised the demand for infrastructure in the health care sector, both hospitals and health care facilities, which will spur  developers and investors to shift  to this vital sector, especially after the crisis shed light on the high capabilities and effectiveness of the UAE health care systems.

The fourth advantage is a direct result of the flexibility that was provided to real estate developers in converting residential units to commercial ones, or vice versa. Al Zarouni stressed that both residential and commercial real estate projects did well in facing the crisis challenges showing excellent performance in the recent weeks.

He argued that the fifth advantage stems from the conditions imposed by the challenges of “Covid-19”,which created good opportunities for real estate companies and developers to change their business patterns and put forward innovative marketing ideas in order to attract customers by promoting their products in a new way through the “social media” channels, and using virtual reality technologies to help the customer visit the property unit online without  the need to check it on site.

Walid Al Zarouni stressed the fact that the UAE real estate sector is strong and  capable of overcoming difficulties and crises, whatsoever. The market is fortified with real estate laws and legislations, as well as modern regulations  that are of great effect in the sector’s performance. The sector, historically, overcame many global crises and got stronger and stronger every time.