Revealed: The most transparent real estate markets in the MENA region

Dubai has once again emerged as having the most transparent real estate market in the MENA region, according to a JLL’s biennial transparency index.

The emirate climbed up three spots to rank 36th place globally on JLL’s Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) 2020, which ranks both cities and countries from across the world.

The report  credited the city’s improvement to its creation of an official residential transaction-based index, Mo’asher.

The index is believed to be “a potentially important step forward for Dubai” because of its versatility and applicability by the market’s constituents, said Dana Salbak, head of Research for JLL MENA.

UAE capital Abu Dhabi also rose on the index to rank at 48 globally and the second highest in the MENA region.

The emirate’s rise in the ranking stemmed from its introduction of newer initiatives aimed at promoting corporate and real estate sustainability.

Salbak emphasised how the pledge signed between the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) will have financial policies that would directly result in social, economic, and environmental benefits.

The report also indicated two other factors pertinent to Abu Dhabi’s rising rank: the first green real estate investment trust (REIT) and the unveiling of a new data management programme.

The data management programme, falling under the Open Data initiative, is designed to nurture the emirate’s goal of becoming one of the best places to visit, work, invest, and live in the world.

Meanwhile Saudi Arabia – as a country – got ranked at 57th place globally this year, placing it third in the region.

Saudi Arabian organisations such as the Ministry of Finance and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority understand the importance of transparency and have begun to periodically publish micro-level indicators.

The kingdom’s ministry of justice has also been providing data, which has proven to be beneficial for the performance of residential real estate transactions.

Thierry Delvaux, CEO, JLL MENA added that the rise of Covid-19 has caused people to be more skeptical and “the need for transparent processes and accurate, timely data becomes more important than ever.”