Mohammad Ali Al Hashimi, who heads Amlak Finance, told Gulf News in an interview that the city's housing boom was robust and he expected the company's loan commitments to double in the next two to three years from a little more than Dh4 billion now.

He said Amlak also planned to push into new markets such as Abu Dhabi, Turkey and others in the region to beat slowing growth at home and expected foreign businesses to contribute 40 per cent of its revenue in five years.

"People ask me the same thing (whether the property market is a bubble and if I am concerned). Well, if there is anyone who needs to be concerned it should be me, because I have Dh4 billion committed to this market," Hashimi said.

"I am not concerned, and I am not the only one now. Maybe if you had asked me that three years ago, when we were the only ones there and nobody else wanted to come in, then maybe I would have said that the others aren't comfortable.

"We are taking a long-term exposure, 20, 25 years to this market. We are comfortable with what is going on now and many other institutions are now taking the same view," Hashimi said.

Dubai's decision to allow foreigners to own property in 2002 triggered a housing boom in the city that has boosted firms like Amlak.

But analysts expect about 85,000 dwelling units to be completed in Dubai between 2004 and 2008 which could trigger a price correction by end-2006. The emirate has a population of a little more than a million.

Hashimi said the premiums on resale of housing units may have flattened but that reflected the greater choice available now. Housing demand remained strong and developers continued to launch new projects every day, he said.

"We have committed in excess of Dh4 billion to date and have disbursed about $2.5 billion. We are confident that in the next three years, something in the region of Dh3-Dh4 billion is what we expect in terms of growth and that is probably a conservative figure," he said.

Amlak, established by top property developer Emaar in 2000, is a home loan pioneer in Dubai and now competes with Tamweel and the housing finance arms of retail banks like Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Dubai Islamic and HSBC Amanah.

Surging home loan demand boosted Amlak 's net profit 268 per cent in the first half year to June to Dh72.09 million helping its shares more than treble since January.

Emaar now owns 45 per cent of Amlak and Emaar homes make up about 75 per cent of Amlak 's loan portfolio. Hashimi said he expected that figure to drop to about 40-50 per cent in the next three years as it increases financing of other developers.