The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) retail real estate market is the fastest growing in the world, with more than 16.35 million square metres (m²) of Gross Leasable Area (GLA) expected to be completed by 2010, according to Colliers International - one of the top three global property service consultants.

The increase represents a massive 565 percent growth in the available GLA found in the region since 2000, up from 2.46 million m² at the start of the millennium.

According to Colliers International’s inaugural GCC Retail Report, the UAE and Saudi Arabia will see the highest increase, contributing 44 percent and 30 percent respectively of the GLA by the end of the decade.

The results of the latest quarterly survey of delinquency and foreclosure rates by the Mortgage Bankers Association helped send stocks down Tuesday, reflecting investors’ views that the crisis in subprime lending won’t be confined to real estate.

The MBA survey found that 4.95 percent of mortgage loans were 30 days or more past due in the fourth quarter of 2006, up from 4.67 percent the previous quarter and approaching the 4.97 percent late-payment rate in the second quarter of 2003.