Dubai may tighten property market rules
Dubai is mulling tightening rules on the property market in the Gulf financial hub after many developers shelved projects because of the global financial crisis, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The real estate authorities are expected to issue new regulations aimed at helping avert delays and cancellations that have marred the once-buoyant sector, lawyers briefed on the changes were quoted as saying by The National.
Buyers would be required to pay a developer 30 percent of the property price as a deposit, with the remaining 70 percent paid in instalments linked to stages of the development, the daily reported.
Developers would also not be allowed to start selling units in a property until 20 percent of the planned project has been completed, Lisa Dale, head of the property department at Al Tamimi law firm, was quoted as saying.
"This will ensure only the most feasible projects go forward," she said.
Dubai, a member of the seven-strong United Arab Emirates federation, opened its property sector to foreign investors in 2002, triggering a real estate boom later boosted by windfall revenues from oil prices that hit an all-time high in July 2008.
The emirate's steadily rising population and investor speculation on the sector contributed to a surge in real estate prices.
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