DUBAI: Cities of the UAE offer the best quality of life in the Middle East, according to a global survey published yesterday.
Mercer, a management consultancy based in the United States, said Dubai ranked at 77, the highest of all cities in the Gulf. The survey cited Dubai's infrastructure of telecommunications, roads and airports as well as consumer facilities. It is up six places over last year.
Abu Dhabi, the UAE's capital city, was the second best performing Arab city at number 84, an improvement of three places over last year.
"The Middle East as a region is continuously increasing in the quality of living rankings, especially in its infrastructure and recreation facilities," said Slagin Parakatil, senior researcher at Mercer in a statement.
Meanwhile, market data released by Reidin.com says that Dubai has ranked first among 59 cities in 34 emerging countries with the highest average residential property prices, recording a rate of around $7,000 per sq. m. as of February 2009.
Next to Dubai, Singapore has emerged as the second city with the most expensive residential properties with an average sales price of $6,600 per sq. m., followed by Moscow $6,000, Hong Kong $5,400, Beijing $4,500 and Tel Aviv $4,200. The rest of the cities in the top 10 include Ljubljana, Prague, St. Petersburg and Muscat.
"The launch of 'Market Data' further strengthens the capacity of 'REBIS' to provide an accurate overview of the industry for the benefit of real estate professionals, investors and other potential users who want to access the latest market information in the real estate sector across the region and beyond," said Ahmet Kayhan, CEO, REIDIN.com.
(With input from agencies)
