Abu Dhabi Real Estate Show (IREIS) set to reflect buoyant Abu Dhabi market

In an apt reflection of the buoyancy in Abu Dhabi's real estate sector, has increased exhibit space allocation to 9,500 square metres, an increase of over 45 percent over the previous edition.

The annual event will take place as Abu Dhabi looks set to launch more mega projects in line with developments over the last nine months during which property projects worth over AED 100 billion have been unveiled in the emirate.

Among the projects launched recently are the AED 18.35 billion Green Community by Masdar, the AED 11 billion Desert Islands project by TDIC (Tourism Development & Investment Company), the AED 7.34 billion Marina Rise project by Eshraq and Manazel's AED 7 billion Building Materials City.

Antoine Georges, Director of Dome Exhibitions, which is organizing IREIS, said: "Until October of last year Abu Dhabi had seen property project announcements worth AED 240 billion. In less than nine months, this figure has gone up nearly 50 percent to AED 333.8 billion and this growth is expected to continue ".

"The massive investments into real estate have positively impacted the growth of IREIS and the show has garnered significant exhibitor interest for its next edition in 2008. Property majors including Sorouh Real Estate, Falcon City of Wonders, Eshraq, Profile Group and Royal House, among others have confirmed participation".

Stating that the show would continue to be targeted at the final buyers of real estate rather than at trade visitors, Georges said that almost every project in the Abu Dhabi market currently was aimed at high-income earners. "Its only a matter of time before developers target the middle-income segment - a segment that has huge potential given the rapid population growth that Abu Dhabi and the rest of the UAE is witnessing ", he said.

According to the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Abu Dhabi's construction and real estate investments are expected to contribute AED 40 billion to the emirate's GDP in 2007.

IREIS 2008 builds on the successful platform established by its three previous editions. The show, first introduced to an emerging real estate market in Abu Dhabi in 2005, has achieved impressive growth. IREIS 2007 held earlier this year under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, had 52 exhibitors taking part occupying an area of over 6,500 square metres. This marked a 100 percent increase over exhibit space from the 2006 edition. Exhibitors at IREIS 2007 included master developers, property development companies, real estate agents and major financial institutions.