DUBAI: One of the UAE’s leading property developers believes that the property market will pick up again by 2021. Hussain Sajwani, the billionaire founder and chairman of Dubai-based Damac Properties, told a World Economic Forum meeting in the UAE that it could take “a few years” before the current phase of the property cycle reversed, boosted by foreign buyers, especially those from China. “As you appreciate the property market is cyclical everywhere in the world — and you see a few years up, and a few years down. “We had our chance of a (bull) market from 2012 to 2015 … Then in 2016 we started seeing some slowdown with the oil prices coming down,” he said at the WEF’s Global Future Councils gathering in Dubai. “This year has been a difficult year and I think next year will be another difficult year. I don’t see it’s going to be better than this year. We’re in that cycle of slowdown and it will take a few years. I hope that by 2020 with the Expo coming in, more people will be coming to Dubai,” he added. Some real estate experts have forecast a recovery to the Dubai property market next year, as the expected “Expo 2020 effect” boosts the economy. Sajwani was confident of the long-term attractions of Dubai. “I genuinely believe Dubai is still a hidden jewel and a lot of people around the world still want to come to Dubai and they love it,” he said. “If we just take one country, like China, if we can attract another few million tourists from China we can get more people to come here, spend time, buy property… and retail … I would hope by the end of 2020 or 2021 we start coming out of this slowdown.”