While a number of global real estate funds have looked closely at opportunities in the Dubai market over the past two years, no suitable deals have been sourced and they have all left town empty handed.  Today’s announcement that Brookfield Asset Management has teemed up with the Dubai Governments ICD (Investment Corporation of Dubai) to establish a new fund of up to $1 billion, entirely focussed on assets in Dubai is therefore a welcome shot in the arm for the market.  Sentiment is a major driver of the Dubai market and this announcement represents a welcome indication of the re-emergence of local as well as international institutional investor appetite, which has been largely absent since the on-set of the credit crisis in 2008. Although challenges in Dubai remain, with the right strategy, this fund could sweep up some interesting opportunities and begin to establish some consistent pricing & yield benchmarks which have hitherto been missing due to the limited transactional activity.