"Since 2005, the number of young women getting property loans has risen from just 12 percent to 33 percent of total mortgage lending compared with the first five-year period of this decade," said Khalid al-Kathiry, a mortgage officer at Oman Arab Bank.

Supporters of the trend say that funneling dowry money to invest in property is not only wise but it also protects women if the marriage faces a fallout and ends in divorce. Opponents on the other hand say the new trend will undermine the gold business and the Omani culture as it will work to weaken the husband’s role in marriage.

Critics have blamed women who have studied abroad for bringing western-influenced ideas and their parents for unleashing the entrepreneur spirits of their daughters.

"Yes, gold is flashy and a bride gets to boast about the size of her dowry. But what else is there?" said Ameena al-Mukaibily, a 26-year-old newlywed.

Al-Mukaibily whose dowry reached up to $ 21,295 has attended University of Southampton in the UK, and is now working as an accountant at the state-owned Muscat Electricity Distribution Company.

"I would rather use the money for a solid investment like a house for my future financial security,” she added.

Fatma Fallahy, a marriage counselor aged-75 said that women from the Gulf region are becoming more alert for the importance of having property in their names.

"It makes them feel secure and different from their mothers," Fallahy added.

“I think they see their parents' marriage as an example when everything is owned by the father. They want to change that."

"Women in Oman get kicked out of the house when they are divorced. That won't happen to me because I own the property," said Nabeela al-Raisy who is a 31-year-old married woman and a secondary schoolteacher.

"Also, having a mortgage gives me the perfect reason to continue with my career."

Unlike many western countries, when women get half of what men own, Omani divorced women like most of their counterparts in the Arab countries are required to leave the house if owned by their ex-husbands.

Despite some bachelors supporting the new trend such as the 27-year-old Mansoor al-Adawi, who works as civil engineer, Alawi al-Bimani who works as an accountant for the ministry of electricity, said his four-year marriage ended partly because he and his wife argued over the ownership of their house.

"A husband is like the captain of the ship. When you deny him the privilege, then the vessel will either sink or drift to unknown territory," said Sheikh Moosa al-Ajmi, a tribal leader in Muscat.