Chief Economist

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29 April 2025

Does Stock Market Volatility Impact Real Estate Markets?

No one could have failed to notice the impact that the recent economic policies of the current US Administration have had on global stock markets. The sudden raising of US tariffs to levels not seen for a century[1] has had a similar effect to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which increased duties on already high tariff rates. US and global stock markets responded entirely predictably to these recent tariffs in a rapid, negative way
25 March 2025

Abu Dhabi Residential Market Performance 2024

Abu Dhabi’s economy has experienced solid growth, with a 3.9% GDP increase in the first nine months of 2024, largely driven by the non-oil sector, which now contributes more than half of the economy. With growth projected at 5.0-6.0% in 2025 and inflation remaining stable, the outlook remains optimistic, supporting confidence in the real estate market as well.
17 March 2025

Dubai Hospitality Sector – Market Performance 2024

In 2024, Dubai set a new tourism record, welcoming 18.7 million overnight guests—a 9.1% increase from the 17.1 million visitors recorded the previous year. This growth aligns with the strategic vision of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, as outlined in the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, which aims to position Dubai among the world’s top three global tourism destinations.
26 February 2025

Dubai Residential Market Performance 2024

The Gulf’s macroeconomic performance remains impressive, with the UAE leading the charge. While macroeconomic cycles have not disappeared, investors can take confidence in the fact that their impact has been significantly less in the past decades. The positive macro signals correlated strongly with exceptional real estate performance.
8 January 2025

Dubai’s Residential Market Performance – Autumn 2024

Dubai’s Residential Market Performance Dubai’s residential real estate market continued to see a remarkable surge in activity throughout the first nine months of 2024. Both transaction volume and value have reached new highs, surpassing previous records. This unprecedented growth can be attributed to several factors, including increased investor confidence, economic stability, and a favourable regulatory environment. In this report, we […]
18 December 2024

Benchmarking Key Indicators for Saudi Giga-projects: Challenges, Methodologies and Solutions

Saudi Arabia has embarked upon a massive development programme as part of its Vision 2030 plan. This programme includes 14 large-scale and ambitious developments, which it is calling ‘giga-projects’. The most well-known of these is NEOM, but other projects include ROSHN, the Red Sea Project and Jeddah Central.
9 December 2024

Branded Residences: Four Key Considerations

The significance of brands and branding for the consumer goods industry is beyond the slightest doubt. The combination of generational effects and online marketing has served to reinforce their importance during the last two decades. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the Gulf, where branded luxury goods, in particular, have formed a larger percentage of consumer spending than anywhere else.
27 November 2024

Owners’ Associations in the Gulf – A Key to Value Creation

The need for Owners’ Associations The issue of multiple ownership in a single asset has been around for a long time. One of the most successful solutions has been share ownership in a company, which works well for manufacturing, service, and many other types of enterprise. Real estate has also seen a similar kind of solution: joint ownership, where a […]
9 October 2024

Is the System of Hotel Rating Still Fit for Purpose?

The evolution of a system  Hotel ratings were originally introduced to enable potential guests to understand the overall quality of places where they might choose to stay and the range of facilities available. Later, they acquired significance as valuation tools for hotel brands, as well as for the properties themselves. Studies have analysed the individual willingness to pay across ratings[1] […]
30 September 2024

Dubai’s Hospitality Sector – Market Performance in H1 2024

Dubai Tourism Overview Despite or perhaps even partly because of ongoing geopolitical tensions, Dubai remains a leading tourist destination. In the first half of 2024, the city welcomed a record 9.31 million overnight guests, marking a 9% increase from the 8.55 million visitors during the same period last year. This impressive performance reflects the strategic vision outlined by Sheikh Mohammed […]
15 January 2024

A new era for real estate dawns in Oman

The context for Oman’s real estate boom Real estate as an engine for economic growth The importance of the real estate sector in any nation’s economic and social development is no secret. For years, construction has been celebrated as a pivotal economic driver, and in recent decades we have seen developed economies evolve from industrial and service-oriented development to what […]
24 October 2023

Valuing luxury real estate in the Gulf

Understanding luxury Luxury is a concept as old as philosophy itself. It has stirred debate for centuries. From the musings of Plato to modern economic thinkers like Werner Sombart and Thorstein Veblen, interpretations of the concept of luxury may differ, but they all seem to agree that luxury is an important aspect of society. Sombart championed luxury’s central role in […]

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