A slew of positive indicators have emerged from the UAE real estate sector in recent days and not just in Dubai DUBAI: Dubai property prices have now been stable for three months on the trot - the first time that has happened in five years, notes Tellimer. "Visa and ownership rules have no doubt moved in the right direction and may be underpinning the stabilization in completed real estate prices in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi," the research company said in a note to clients on Tuesday. A slew of positive indicators have emerged from the UAE real estate sector in recent days and not just in Dubai. It comes as the country ramps up its own growth targets and introduces business reforms aimed at making it more attractive to investors and residents. "Ambitious as ever, the UAE economy ministry has released a target to double total GDP in the next decade. For the UAE to grow 7-8 percent every year on average would require all growth cylinders to fire: oil output and oil price, tourism, investment and construction, population, and productivity," Tellimer said. Real estate, long a growth engine in the UAE, was hit hard by the 2014 collapse in oil prices and has been in the doldrums for most of the intervening period. Now signs are emerging of a pickup in activity, especially in Dubai luxury property sales. Dubai’s high-end real estate property sales almost doubled in March to 84 units sold – worth around 1.7 billion dirhams ($462.8 million) – compared to the previous month, according to real estate intelligence firm Property Monitor. Positive real estate data has also emerged from the capital with around 3,850 real estate transactions completed in Abu Dhabi in the first quarter amounting to 11.5 million dirhams ($3.13 billion). A continued recovery in the tourism sector is an important factor for both the health of the real estate sector and the wider economy. "The major driver of non-oil growth in the short-term is tourism and while the UAE has done all it can to keep the sector alive, in terms of smart social distancing rules and the vaccinations program, it cannot control the most important factor, international travel restrictions," Tellimer said.