Dubai’s property market will recover by the end of 2011 as mortgages become easier to obtain and more people move to the city, according to the developer of a $4bn hotel and residential project.

“Banks can’t stay away for long,” Santhosh Joseph, chief executive officer of Dubai Pearl, said in an interview. “They have to lend and, historically, most of this region’s lending goes into property.”

Dubai, the second-biggest sheikhdom in the United Arab Emirates, experienced the world’s worst property slump during the global recession, with selling prices falling by more than 50% and project cancellations exceeding $300bn. To sustain itself, Dubai Pearl is relying on $1.5bn paid for apartments in advance and another $500m that has been committed by Al Fahim Group, Joseph said.

bloomberg.com