UAE: Sharjah

Sharjah’s real estate and construction sector could be in for a welcome boost as the government looks to address the shortage of affordable housing in the emirate. And while lower prices in neighbouring rental markets could have a knock-on effect, the emirate’s prospects for real estate growth in 2012 are promising.

Sharjah’s push to increase the role its tourism sector plays appears to be paying dividends, with hotels reporting higher occupancy rates and airlines adding the emirate as a destination.

Sharjah’s real estate sector is a buyer’s and renter’s market at the moment, with prices falling since the beginning of the year and more residents reporting satisfaction with the affordability of housing. Increased residential and office space competition from neighbouring emirates, however, means that maintaining occupancy rates will be a challenge, at least in the near term.

Tourism officials in Sharjah have adopted a hard-sell approach to promoting the emirate’s credentials as a travel destination, racking up frequent flyer points of their own as they criss-cross the globe to take part in tourism fairs and trade events. The success of this campaign will depend to some degree on the health of the economies of the countries targeted by the emirate’s promotional push.

The telecommunications industry in Sharjah and the wider UAE is expecting important changes with the introduction of long-term evolution (LTE) and voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services, as well as mobile number portability (MNP), all of which look set to be launched later this year by the country’s two biggest telecoms firms.

The conservative approaches to money management employed by for four Sharjah-based lenders have paid off judging by their year-end financial statements for 2010, which have recently been released.