Dubai property deals fall in first half as emirate rolls out reforms

Dubai property deals fall in first half as emirate rolls out reforms:

Dubai Land Department (DLD) said the value of real estate transactions in the first six months of 2018 was 111 billion dirhams ($30.2 billion) across 27,642 transactions. The DLD did not provide comparative figures for the year-earlier period, however data released by the department last year reflects a 16 percent decline in the value of deals and a 22 percent drop in their overall number. The property market in the emirate has been battling headwinds from rising US interest rates, expatriate job losses and a strong US dollar, to which the dirham is pegged, making property purchases expensive for many overseas buyers.