Dubai-based developer ETA Star Property will continue to develop land in India and deliver projects in Dubai to customers as it focuses on its two main markets, an executive said on Monday. 

The property development arm of conglomerate ETA Ascon Star will hand over three projects in Dubai in 2010 and continue to launch bigger community and smaller inner-city projects in Chennai and Bangalore, as it looks to tap strong demand for housing in India.

"The UAE (United Arab Emirates) and India are our home markets. As far as the UAE is concerned we would like to consolidate and as far as India is concerned we would like to continue (developing)," Abid Junaid, the firm's executive director, said at the Reuters Global Real Estate and Infrastructure Summit in Dubai.

ETA, which has landbanks in Vietnam and Malaysia, said it had no plans to build them up yet, but was targeting to develop 500,000 square feet of land a year in India, where it has a landbank of 20 million square feet.

The developer, which focuses mainly on high-end and middle-income residential projects in India, is on track to launch the first phase of an integrated township project near Chennai worth around $250 million in the third quarter, Junaid said.   

Property prices in major Indian cities such as Mumbai and Delhi have nearly doubled in the past year, as home and office buyers return and mortgage rates remain in single digits.

"It's buoyant," he said, referring to the property market in India. "The effect of the recession was temporary. Today I could say it is as good as what it was pre-recession."         

There are no plans to launch any new projects in the UAE due to market conditions, Junaid said, adding that lending conditions remained tight. "The market is not ripe to raise funds... We have to wait for presales to return before we launch projects," he said.

Junaid said regulatory developments in Dubai, such as the introduction of the Strata Law which defines the rights, responsibilities and obligations of all parties in jointly-owned properties in Dubai was a "key step forward", but added the legal framework was not yet complete. 

ETA Star Property, which was formed in 2003, has offices in Bangalore, Chennai, Dubai and London. Its portfolio includes a 42-storey tower consisting of high-end offices and luxury flats in the Dubai International Financial Centre, the emirate's financial district.   

Its parent company has interests in construction, shipping, retail, transport and education. - Reuters