DUBAI ONE TV INTERVIEW WITH MOHANAD AL WADIYA

As the Managing Director of Harbor Real Estate Brokerage and Editor in Chief of the Harbor Report, Mohanad Al Wadiya presented a very optimistic overview of the Real Estate market last month. Discussing the latest trends and developments and projects on a recovery in 2010, Mohanad is predicting that even though the market appears to have bottomed out, it will probably still take several more months until we see an improvement in the market. Where does this information stem from? It comes from the Harbor Report, a quarterly study of the Real Estate Market in Dubai. ‘’I believe that the market is in a phase of fragile stabilization,’’ said Mohanad Al Wadiya, Managing Director of Harbor Real Estate Brokerage and Editor in Chief of the Harbor Report.

It is hard to say exactly when we will see an improvement but the general consensus is that this will be in 2010, although the pace and magnitude of Dubai’s economic recovery and its real estate industry will be largely dependent upon the global economic recovery and world economic events,” he added. The report suggests that even though there have been many positive changes, with governments implementing monetary and fiscal policies, companies restructuring and improving their balance sheets and larger corporations considering mergers or acquisitions, it will still take several more months until we see solid and sustainable improvements. ‘’When the first Harbor Report was issued in Q1, the general mood was very somber, today it is evident that even though the market is stressed it is certainly not getting any worse, and that in itself is good news. We are starting to see signs that the changes made by governments and corporate institutions to combat the recession are slowly but steadily taking effect.

With economists in Japan, China, USA and even Europe talking about “green shoots” or early signs that a return to economic growth is now on the horizon, it looks promising that we will see things pick up in early 2010 ,’’ said Mr. Al Wadiya. Whilst the broad consensus is that these major economies will bottom out in the 3rd quarter of 2009, Stock markets and consumer confidence indices around the world have risen significantly in the first 6 months of the year. “This performance of stock markets around the world, even despite the recent dip, suggests the worst is behind us and we are more or less at rock bottom. The million dollar question is how long will we remain at the bottom before we see real signs of sustainable recovery,” concluded Mr. Al Wadiya. The Harbor Report is a quarterly report that was first issued in April 2009. For more information and to download the Harbor report please visit "http://www.harbordubai.com".