The number of property developers registered in Dubai has fallen by around 40 per cent in two months, the head of the emirate's real estate regulator said in remarks published on Saturday.

There are around 500 developers registered in Dubai, compared with more than 800 in November, Marwan Bin Ghalita, chief executive of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), told The National.

'Some of the companies were registered but have now decided they don't want to develop because of liquidity, which is a good thing,' he told the daily newspaper.

'And others were forced to cancel because we were sure that their developments would never be real,' Bin Ghalita pointed out.

Dubai's once-booming real estate sector has been hit hard by the global financial crisis as property prices fall, jobs are cut and developers cancel or delay projects.

Rera plans to introduce a system soon that will rank developers according to financial stability and market experience, Bin Ghalita added.-Reuters