DUBAI: Increases in Dubai property prices slowed in the second half of 2014 and valuations will be steady next year as a glut of new units are released, consultants CBRE said on Tuesday.

The real estate sector in Dubai, one of seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates, has been among the most volatile globally over the past decade as it turned from boom to bust to boom again. Prices rebounded from early 2012, soaring from June that year to the end of 2013.

“The major investors haven’t really changed over the past five years — UAE nationals are some of the largest buyers, (plus) India, Pakistan, United Kingdom,” Matthew Green, CBRE Middle East’s head of research, told a news conference.

“For money coming in from this region, it’s about moving cash out of countries which are higher risk into a country that’s perceived as comparatively stable.”

Residential property rental values rose 7 per cent in 2014 — less than 2013’s increase of 24pc — while sales prices climbed 18pc this year and 30pc in 2013, CBRE estimates.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2014