Dubai: The Dubai public prosecution has referred Abid Al Boom, owner of Abid Al Boom Management and Development Properties, and his partners to the Dubai court of misdemeanour on charges of breach of trust, issuing a bad cheque and embezzlement.

Al Boom is also charged with swindling investors in the real estate sector of more than Dh900 million.

Real estate companies in Dubai may start hiring again when they re-launch some of the projects in fourth quarter or early next year, according to a recruiting consultancy.

"Companies in the region have been hiring. Roughly 25 per cent of the respondents to our salary survey for the year had been made redundant but have found jobs in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi," said Matthew Taylor, International Director, Macdonald & Company.

The UAE needs standardised local and federal property laws to help the sector get back to its feet, analysts told Emirates Business.

Analysts said only consumer confidence can kick-start the sector, and to do so, liquidity and trust coupled with proper and harmonised legal infrastructures need to be in place.

Gold jewellery sale volumes in Dubai fell around 40 per cent in July on a year ago, as the economic downturn and the summer heat deterred tourism, retailers said.

Tourists are a large part of the market for Dubai’s tax-free gold, but recession has eaten into disposable incomes and hit the flow of visitors to the emirate, deepening the seasonal downturn in visitors as desert temperatures peak.