DAMMAM: About 40 percent of the real estate companies in the Eastern Province are fake. These offices are behind the rise of land prices, local business daily Al-Eqtisadiah reported, quoting realtors from the region.

Moody’s Investors Service released its mid-year update to its Middle East Sovereign Outlook, in which it noted that 2010 continues to be a year of improvement for Middle East sovereigns.

Investment risk will continue to “constrain” insurance ratings in the Middle East in the next 12-18 months as the risk cover providers’ risk appetite for real-estate exposure and equities will remain strong in view of low attraction for bank deposits, according to Moody’s.