The rebalancing of the fiscal position across the Gulf region due to the lower oil prices will result in headwinds and challenges for the real estate over the next 12 months, said a report.

The lower oil prices are leading to a fiscal restructuring across GCC's hydrocarbon economies, which involves both reduced government spending and increased government revenue through taxation. This scenario will have various implications for real estate investment both in the region and globally, according to the latest research report from ​​​​JLL, the world's leading real estate investment and advisory firm.

Fiscal restructuring is already evident in the form of budgetary cuts among GCC countries including the UAE. As governments become more cautious about their finances, there is a likelihood of cuts in infrastructure spending, said the expert, highlighting the impact of lower oil price on capital flows into real estate.

While many of the already announced projects are likely to proceed, they may be scaled back or rescheduled over an extended timeframe, with future projects being curtailed.

This will inevitably have a knock on effect on local real estate markets. On the other side of the fiscal balance, GCC governments are also seeking to raise additional revenue through sales tax, land/housing tax and reduction/removal of subsidies. Such developments could also have implications for various real estate stakeholders, it added.

Craig Plumb, the head of research JLL Mena, said: "While we remain positive on the long term outlook for real estate markets across the region, there is little doubt that the rebalancing of the fiscal position will result in headwinds and challenges over the next 12 months. While governments continue to spend on development and infrastructure projects, the level of this spending will inevitably be curtailed over the medium term as spending needs are realigned with the reality of lower oil revenues."

"GCC investors have been active on the global real estate stage for many years. Since 2007, they have purchased a total of over $45 billion of real estate globally. In reality this figure under estimates their exposure to real estate, as it only includes direct commercial real estate purchases and excludes both residential projects and also company acquisitions," he noted.

While many of the high profile purchases have been made by government controlled sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), there has been growing interest from private investors over the past two years and this trend is expected to continue further, he added.

Despite lower oil prices, JLL's data shows that Middle East SWFs remained active purchasers of global real estate through out the year.

A total of 38 deals worth $6.5 billion were transacted over the nine months to September 2015. While the number of overseas transactions has declined from the 74 deals seen in 2013, the value of investment has remained high and is likely to exceed that experienced in 2014.

However, JLL warned that the volume of investment is expected to fall next year as the world economy enters a prolonged period of lower oil prices that will cause sovereigns to reconsider their objectives and strategies.-TradeArabia News Service