DUBAI - The total value of mortgages issued in Dubai rose during the second quarter by 14.3 per cent to Dh8 billion, up from Dh7 billion in the first quarter, as banks made its easier for real estate buyers to get credit, according to a property industry report.

Mortgage rates in the United Arab Emirates are declining due to changes in market dynamics and are generating new interest from buyers and end-users, online real estate information company REIDIN.com said in a report on Monday.

The study was conducted in partnership with the Dubai Land Department and the government property regulator the Real Estate Regulatory Authority.

Dubai’s once-booming property market has been hit hard by the global economic downturn, but a pick-up in more mature markets such as the US and Britain, is starting to boost confidence here.

The value of mortgages issued in Dubai during the second quarter fell year-on-year by 77 per cent, compared with the same quarter of 2008, as banks in the country faced a shortage of funds earlier this year due to the credit crisis.

The total value of mortgages dropped in the second quarter to Dh8 billion from Dh35.2 billion a year earlier, REIDIN.com said.

House prices in Dubai are likely to stabilise by the fourth quarter of 2009 due to improving sentiment in global property markets, Colliers International, a real estate consultant, said on August 3.

Property prices in Dubai have slumped 49 per cent from their peak a year ago, another real estate advisery firm Jones Lang LaSalle said on August 16.

According to REIDIN.com, 39 banks registered 1,365 mortgages in Dubai during the second quarter. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank extended 91 mortgages worth Dh1.86 billion within the three-month period. Dubai Islamic Bank registered close to Dh1.83 billion from 151 transactions, while the National Bank of Dubai financed over Dh1.07 billion in 80 transactions during the second quarter.