Distressed Ppty Funds Eye Dubai As Boom Turns To Bust

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A growing number of distressed funds looking at Dubai real estate may signal the bottom of the market and could help revive the emirate's shattered property sector after prices plummeted 50% in less than a year.

As over-stretched borrowers who hoped to profit from the emirate's six-year property boom face up to the reality of tumbling prices, high interest rates and job cuts, some are dumping unwanted real estate. Property funds are on the prowl to snap up the bargains.

"This is definitely a positive for Dubai," said Gaurav Shivpuri, head of corporate finance advisory at real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle. "We're starting to see investors calling the bottom and prices starting to stabilize."