IslamicFinance.de

Key to the growth of the housing sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is the development of mortgage finance. Because of the demography of the region where some 65 per cent of the population is under 30 years old, demand for affordable housing is expected to raise significantly.
As many GCC countries depend mostly on expatriate population that consist of Muslims and non-Muslims their preference toward Islamic finance is mixed for several reasons. Until 2008, in the pre-crisis period, Islamic financial institutions were preferred to focus on real estate as an asset class and this drove to increased number of players that were offering a variety of Islamic mortgage products.