Real estate business is booming in Bahrain.

The number of people who turned up to look for new homes was up by 25 per cent at the Bahrain International Property Exhibition (Bipex 2007) by the time it closed last night at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre.

More than 12,500 prospective buyers visited Bipex 2007 this year which has been voted a massive success by organisers, the Bahrain Society of Engineers (BSE).

"More business has been done at any previous show and the event has been supported by contractors offering close to $40 billion worth of properties," said BSE director of publicity, Rizwan Mumtaz.

"This year's show has been a massive success and most of the exhibitors have already signed up for next year's event," he said.

"This is a reflection of the continuing boom and maturing of the real estate market in Bahrain.

"Bipex 2007 has seen developers accept that this is the foremost event for the property market in the kingdom and as professionals we are looking forward to continuing to play our part in building for the future," he added.

Over 3,000 visitors were attracted on the first day of the event.

More than 70 exhibitors, from the Middle East and outside the region participated in Bipex 2007.