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The organisers of the fourth Bahrain International Property Exhibition, BIPEX 2007, were this week celebrating after registering a record number of visitors to the property expo.
More than 12,000 people attended the three-day event at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre last week as buyers flocked to see a staggering $38 billion worth of real estate sector assets being showcased under one roof.
Many visitors had investment as their primary focus and they came from all over the Middle East to seek a share of Bahrain's property building boom.
The exhibition had something to offer every type of potential buyers in the market. Visitors were wooed by builders, estate agents, financial institutions and property developers from Bahrain, Dubai and the UK.
Rajkumar and Neha Jain, who had come from Dammam, in Saudi Arabia, said: "With the depreciating dollar we are on the lookout for investing our earnings within the Middle East region and we think Bahrain is a good place to buy property."
US citizens Majeed and Haifa Khouri, who are currently settled in Saudi Arabia, want to make Bahrain their home and were searching for a residential property in Juffair.
Most visitors seemed to be well informed and were on the lookout for established builders and architects.
Razik Mohammed from Marina West, which featured 1,280 luxury apartments and penthouse suites on offer, said: "People have all kinds of questions. They are interested to know about the location, view, maintenance charges and facilities on offer. Many have come after having decided on the area of choice and some with a clear idea of the project that they are going to invest in."
Yassir Al Tajer, a real estate businessman from Bahrain, who was scouting for investment opportunities, said that while prices were high it was still a good time to enter the market.
"As Bahrainis we may need to be prepared to own just a share of land and think of apartments and not villas. There is a good chance of prices moving up in the next 18 months," he added.
