Bahrain pressing on after slowdown

This city’s annual property exhibition is a modest affair compared with rivals such as Cityscape in Dubai, but the healthy throng of visitors this weekend suggests there is life yet in the Bahraini real estate market.

When the financial crisis hit last year, severely hurting the global property sector, the cranes in Bahrain merely slowed. Hammer blows echo at night from Marina West, a group of luxury high-rises emerging from the palm plantations on the island’s east coast. Bahrain Bay, a vast reclaimed development off Manama’s north shore, is still “on track”, billboards reassure passing motorists.

The organisers of the Bahrain International Property Exhibition (Bipex) have yet to release official figures, but about 10,000 people are thought to have visited the show, compared with a record 13,500 last year. Judging by the licence plates in the exhibition centre car park, a high proportion came across the causeway from neighbouring Saudi Arabia.