IREIS 2008 was held January 30th to February 2nd 2008 under the patronage of H.E Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

“We are extremely happy with the outcome of this year’s edition of IREIS. The quality of exhibitors and visitors we managed to attract, the range of projects that were exhibited and the impressive number of property sales that were made at the show have exceeded our expectations”, said Antoine Goerges, Director, Dome Exhibtions.

Sulaiman Al Fahim, CEO of Hydra Properties said that his company had completed sales of six of its towers at Hydra Avenue during the show. Resale of units from Hydra projects were also steady he said.

“IREIS is a wonderful show and the response has gone beyond our expectations. I can confidently say that this was one of the most successful property shows for us in the UAE. This is the second time we have participated at IREIS and based on what has been achieved this year, we are confirming our participation at IREIS 2009. We would like to increase the exhibit space at next year’s show”, said Al Fahim.

Khaled Al Tenaiji, Sales and Marketing Director at Pearl Properties said that Pearl Properties’ sales during IREIS had exceeded 650 million dirhams. “We are extremely happy with our participation at IREIS. We sold 40 units at the Palasades project. Our Pearl Jumeirah Tower and the Pearl Mizin Tower have been sold out. We look forward to next year’s IREIS and are confident that the show will grow substantially next year”.

Aldar Properties reported sales of AED 600 million at IREIS 2008 from the first phase of the Al Zeina project that was launched at the show as well as from Al Muneera, another of Aldar´s developments.

Tameer reported sales income of in excess of AED 100 million. Boral Al Tarifi, Marketing Manager at Tameer Holdings said that during IREIS 2008 Tameer managed to sell more than 75 units. “The show has met our expectations and the attendance was satisfactory. We are very confident that next year’s edition will grow significantly and have already reserved space at IREIS 2009”, she said

“The sales reported at the show mirrors the strong property market in Abu Dhabi, the reputation the show has managed to build over the years and the trust that participants have put in our show. We are very proud to have delivered a high-quality show yet again and are confident of building on the platform that IREIS has established as the UAE capital’s premier property show that is focussed solely on the end customer” Goerges added.

Elaborating on the strong visitor response at IREIS 2008, Georges said that more than 9000 visitors had attended the event and this large turn-out had convinced several IREIS 08 exhibitors to book their space for next year’s edition as well.

IREIS 2008 occupied an exhibit space of 10,000 square meters, an increase of 45 percent over the previous edition held in 2007. 83 exhibitors from 11 countries took part at this year’s edition.

Several major property projects were launched at IREIS 08 including the Skygardens development from Plus Properties; Tameer Towers, Elite Residence, Imperial Tower and The Gate by Tameer; the Al Zeina Precinct by Aldar and the Manazel Towers 4 and 5 in Sharjah and the Marbella Bay at Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah by Mumtalakat Real Estate.

IREIS 2008 exhibitors included master developers, property development companies, real estate agents and major financial institutions. UAE participants at IREIS 2008 include Aldar Properties, Sorouh Real Estate, Al Qudra Real Estate, Hydra Properties, Falcon City of Wonders, Mumtalakat Real Estate, Plus Properties, Pearl Properties, Damac Properties and Real Estate Bank.

Among the international participants at IREIS 2008 were America 2030 Equity LLC from the US, Groupo Alicante Urbana from Spain, Qatar Sotheby´s International Realty from Qatar and Hajar Tower Real Estate Company from Kuwait.

Manazel Real Estate was the Platinum Sponsor for the event and Plus Properties the Gold Sponsor.