RIYADH: Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris wouldn’t buy real estate in Dubai as it is still "not the time to invest in the glitzy emirate", Bloomberg reported.
The executive chairman of Orascom Investment Holdings sees a problem in the Dubai property sector.
“People don’t stop building at all. They keep on building so you don’t take a breath to allow the market to appreciate,” he said in a Bloomberg TV interview.
An imbalance between supply and demand in the Middle East’s business hub has led prices to drop more than a third since 2014, but this year has brought signs of a rebound.
Average home prices rose at their fastest pace since 2015, with transaction volumes surging nearly 77 percent in August from a year earlier, according to real estate adviser CBRE Group.
Dubai is also expected to attract foreign capital as it is hosting the World Expo 2020, which its rulers hope will revive the economy.
Sawiris admitted that Dubai has become one of the most sought destinations in the world, but although demand is increasing, “the offerings keep on coming.”
“I wouldn’t buy it based on the fact that it will appreciate soon,” he said.
Outside of Dubai, Sawiris is looking at nickel to diversify away from gold, a key investment by the billionaire in recent years, he told Bloomberg.
