In a report published today by international property consultants Jones Lang LaSalle, the cities of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Cairo and Casablanca are tapped to be the most likely to attract long term capital to their real estate markets.

For some time, long term investors have been reluctant to invest in the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region, because of the short term speculative mentality of both investors and develop ers there.

‘Creating the right environment to attract long term investment into Mena real estate markets remains a work in progress. While few of the necessary requirements have yet to be fully met, significant progress has certainly been made in many critical areas,’ said the Jones Lang LaSalle report.

Rental prices in the area  have fallen between 25 and 50%, and many short-term speculators have stopped investing there.

The analysts predict that the rest of the year will see more falls and prices corrections.

The key to investing in this area is for  private family groups, conglomorates, government entities and institutional investors such as insurance companies, pension funds and listed real estate companies to bear the brunt of the burden – bringing in stability and long term capital.