Real Estate

As the waiting list for government-subsidised housing in Kuwait has grown to more than 100,000 in 2013, projects aimed at combating the shortage will see a number of new construction projects in the coming years. Sluggish residential real estate growth and restrictive legislation have created difficulties for the sector, but new public-private partnerships (PPPs) and improved credit access could help alleviate Kuwait’s housing problems.

A surge of interest in new property developments in Dubai has almost inevitably prompted concerns with respect to the sustainability of the sector’s recovery, recalling the bubble in 2008. However, most old hands in the industry believe investors, regulators and developers have all learned some important lessons from the crash in the sector five years ago, and that the heightened activity signals a the continuance of a rebound that began around a year ago.

As Africa’s most populous country, its second-biggest economy and a major hydrocarbons producer, Nigeria has often drawn sizable capital inflows but only in recent years have real estate investors taken a studious look at the sector. Supply shortages in some segments, including high-end office space, have pushed prices and rents to highs in some cases above those of developed countries. With more developments coming onto the market in all segments, bottlenecks may ease, but demand looks set to continue its upward trajectory, underpinned by sound economic fundamentals.