Do you think that the Amlak and Tamweel merger will be complete by January 2010?

The banks initially said they would complete the merger by the end of the first quarter of 2009, in spite of the financial crisis. Needless to say, they didn’t.

In spite of the delays, however, almost a third of Kipp’s respondents have faith they will merge; 29 percent said Amlak and Tamweel “have been working on it for a while,” and are likely to meet the minister’s January 2010 deadline.

Another 10 percent of readers are not sure if the merger will go through, but are hopeful.

Lack of financing in the UAE has hindered the nation’s property market, especially in Dubai, where real estate prices have fallen up to 50 percent since the crisis hit the region.

Jesse Downs, head of research at Landmark Advisory, told Kipp in May that demand for property in the UAE is there, but the marker lacks financing: “Most people can’t buy a property completely with cash, particularly end-users. So there is that demand waiting for financing to come back into the market. And once that returns it will definitely boost demand.”