While trust plays an important part in UAE real estate developers’ race to establish their standing, the role of media is crucial in building this trust, says a report.

The second quarter Real Estate Media Report of Mediastow, the leading media advisory and intelligence agency in the Mena region, which analyses media coverage of the real estate sector in the UAE market was issued today (August 17).

A total of 3,962 articles out of 168 titles were monitored throughout the second quarter of 2009. The report takes an in-depth look at the PR activities of the UAE’s top eight developers and the real estate sector in the UAE media.

'This report demonstrates that the real estate developers in the UAE are racing for prominence,” said Mohamed Elzubeir, head of Mediastow.

“Trust plays an important role in enhancing the positions of these companies and media is crucial in not only building this trust but also sustaining it,” he added.

“The stocks of Emaar, Aldar Properties and Sorouh were observed and correlated in this report. Aldar took the lead followed by Sorouh then Emaar in the first two weeks of May, but Emaar surpassed Sorouh from then onwards.

“All three property developers showed a rise at the beginning of June  reaching its peak during the second week June, aided by an influx of highly positive messages from Aldar and Sorouh and Emaar’s merger news, with a sharp decline on the June 9.”

Elzubeir added: “An evaluation was undertaken to assess how media coverage varied with time and how it stands in comparison with each other.”

The report concludes that Aldar and Sorouh are still trying to take advantage of the opportunity to take over the real estate market leadership in the UAE. The second quarter of 2009 also saw shrinkage in the margin of positive yet non-PR coverage for the majority of the property developers.

This is due to the economic climate and the resultant negative coverage, said the report, which also explains the increase in PR influence by all property developers.

Elzubeir added: “The boost in PR seems a wise choice, as the media naturally finds negative stories more newsworthy than positive ones. This is always the case when room is left for speculation.”

Interestingly, there seems to be a pattern shift in terms of language penetration, where towards June, more and more developers began moving towards more Arabic coverage than English, the report said.

Perhaps this is aided by the non PR coverage they’ve been receiving being primarily from Arabic publications. All seem to be trying to diversify their clipping types in the second quarter of 2009.

“Overall, there seems to be a drop in the coverage in the second quarter of 2009,” Elzubeir continued.

“All indicators point to May being the highest point, yet one would expect that July would be an even higher point if the trend continues.”

“All property developers must continue to heavily penetrate many powerful, prominent and manifest mentions to continue to build a solid positive reputation, which will lead to better stock performance, more investments and higher sales,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service