Manama: Deloitte’s seventh annual Middle East Real Estate Predictions 2021 report examines the performance of Dubai’s real estate market in 2020 and forecasts the changes in the hospitality, residential, office, retail and logistics markets in 2021.
COVID-19 has caused significant disruption across all real estate sectors in 2020 with owners and occupiers having to make necessary adjustments to business operations in response to the statutory restrictions on capacity and mobility.
The Deloitte Middle East hospitality survey conducted in September 2020 suggests that the market recovery to 2019 levels may not be until 2023, or possibly later. Meanwhile many hospitality companies are revising their business strategies and building resilience towards the new normal.
“In the short-term, cash management and financing/lender considerations are some of the main priorities across all real estate sectors. Macro-economic and demographic factors as well as related government initiatives are likely to define the shape and pace of recovery for the real estate sectors in 2021,” Oliver Morgan, Director and Head of Development in Deloitte’s Real Estate team in the Middle East, said.
“The Dubai hotel market has experienced a major shock and has had to adapt during a very difficult period. With the vaccine currently being rolled out, Expo rescheduled to start on 1 October 2021 and Dubai’s fiftieth year since nationalization, it is hoped that a rebound will occur and performance matrices return to much healthier levels towards the end of this year,” Robin Williamson, Head of Real Estate, Deloitte Middle East, said.
