Mortgage finance in the UAE is barely as old as the six-year property boom that it helped sustain. Now it may also play a crucial role in ensuring the return of confidence to an industry that has been battered by almost a year of price declines, investor defaults and stalled projects.

Despite falling interbank borrowing rates, the cost of mortgages remains stubbornly high. That will need to change before a recovery can take place, analysts say.

The National