The real estate sector in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah expanded by 45 percent between 2011 and 2015, according to a study by the RAK Chamber of Commerce.
The size of the sector increased from AED3.401 billion ($925 million) in 2011 to AED4.947 billion ($1.3 billion) in 2015, the study shows.
Total annual growth of the real estate sector amounted to 15 percent per annum over the period 2011-2015, compared to 18.3 percent per annum for the building and construction sector and 14.5 percent per annum for leasing and business services over the same period.
The real estate sector ranked third after the industrial and tourism sectors in terms of its overall contribution to the AED9.08 billion Ras Al Khaimah economy in 2015, contributing 13.3 percent or AED1.209 billion.
The report also cited data from RAK Center for Statistics and Studies indicating an 14.7 percent increase in the number of new real estate businesses over the period 2014-2015 – from 9,844 in 2014 to 11,294 in 2015. The building and construction sector contributed to the largest increase of 16.9 percent, or 1,142 businesses.