Residential properties in Dubai It was in 2002 when the UAE announced that freehold Dubai residential property could be bought by foreigners, and since then we have seen property prices shoot skywards until now as the local population as well as foreigners who wished to settle in Dubai, plus of course the ubiquitous investors bought into bricks and mortar a mad scramble not to be left out of the game. Of course, rental prices too have seen phenomenal success with rents of Dubai residential property increasing between 25 & 40% according to Arab investment firm EFG-Hermes’ statistics. Let's face it, those huge price increases have led many doubters to predict an inevitable downturn in Dubai residential property prices. However this has not transpired as yet and some experts are optimistic that prices will hold steady and they in fact predict that Dubai residential property will attract high demand for several years to come. This of course is excellent news for those who have already purchased their property as well as investors who constantly need to have the reassurance that prices will remain stable. More than one reason for the stable nature of Dubai residential property has been mooted by experts. Seen as the most important is the huge increase in UAE population as during the past decade or so, Dubai’s population has at least doubled, and it is set to double yet again during the decade to come according to a source in The Business. Quite a large part of this population increase will come from ex-pats who typically purchase Dubai residential property both as a residence as well as an investment. These canny people have seen both their rent returns increase dramatically as well as the value of their properties. Slow project completion has been and still is another major factor in keeping the Dubai residential property market in good repair as it has inadvertently allowed just the right amount of property into the market at any one time without flooding it, thus keeping prices high and stable. EFG-Hermes reported that 100,00 residential units would enter the market during 2008 but in fact only a small proportion of this forecast has actually been completed because of various factors such as the rising cost of construction, labour shortages and increased government regulations on developers in the Dubai residential property space. It is also probable, as some on the inside have pointed out, that developers may have contributed to this slow down in order to sustain the outstanding success of the Dubai residential property market.