Investors from other Gulf oil producers pumped nearly Dh6.8 billion into Dubai’s real estate sector, accounting for almost a quarter of the total property deals in the emirate in the first six months of 2011, a local official was reported on Monday as saying.

Property transactions in Dubai, the region’s business hub, totalled around Dh30 billion in the first half of this year, including Dh16 billion worth of apartments, Dh12 billion land property and the rest in buildings, said Sultan bin Majran, director general of Dubai’s land and property corporation.

“According to the property registrar in Dubai, investors from the other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries accounted for nearly 23 per cent of the total as their investments are estimated at Dh6.814 billion,” he told the Dubai-based Arabic language daily Al-Bayan.

His figures showed around 1,950 GCC investors were involved in property transactions in the first half of 2011 while nearly 2,955 GCC citizens owned apartments, villas and land by the end of the first half.

Reference: http://www.emirates247.com 

He said sport needed to be held in higher regard by the Arab world.

"In Europe and America, they always work hard for sport and for their future," Mr Ghaffar said.

Sports club managers from across the country have expressed excitement over the recent announcement, agreeing a later bid would be better. But they said preparations needed to start as soon as possible.

Tarek Souei, the technical manager of Al Ain Sports and Cultural Club, said more investment in developing sportspeople was needed.

"[The UAE] should also compete in the Olympics," Mr Souei said. "Awareness needs to increase in private and public sectors to get people involved."

He said people would be needed to help in financing and running the event. Sports clubs could also play their part.

"Experts from different clubs can be used [and] infrastructure, human resources and equipment," Mr Souei said. "Everyone will be talking about the Emirates. It will help market the country."

Colin Ewing, the manager of the Sharjah Wanderers Sports Club, agreed.

"There needs to be effort from everybody. There needs to be a lot of co-ordination," Mr Ewing said.

Ahmed Al Kamali, the president of the UAE Athletics Association and a member of the NOC, said preparations would only begin if the bid was successful.

"When it is finalised, then we can decide what the preparations will be," Mr Al Kamali said, adding the federation would do whatever the Government required of it.

"Now the preparation time is much better."

Winning would be a "great honour for the UAE", Mr Ghaffar said.

"Dubai is part of the UAE. If Dubai hosts the event, so does the UAE," he said.

Mr Ghaffar said that Qatar's successful bid to host the Fifa World Cup in 2022 showed "nothing is impossible".

Dubai has a large pool of residential and commercial properties that are currently at very attractive prices by any standards. These properties, in the long-term, could help investors give a solid return on investment once the property market fully rebounds. Some developers, in the days following the global recession undersold properties to ensure cashflow as buyers were hard to come by.

When asked if DREC would directly enter the market with that objective, Al Qasim said, DREC will not acquire companies. "No, we are not interested in acquiring real estate companies whether they are domestic inland or structured for freehold sales — that is not our core business," he added, DREC will focus on rental and leasehold market. "We do not have any plans to enter the freehold market — that's not part of our mandate."

The company, which has a diverse portfolio of assets including residential, commercial, tourism and industrial properties, is planning to develop a number of hotels for the budget segment.

"We are also expanding the Le Meridien Hotel with 200 rooms currently under development," Al Qasim said.

Hospitality

"As a company, we are studying the hospitality market which is the first to recover from the financial meltdown and we see demand coming back, especially, in the mid-market and budget segments. There is a shortage of branded three-star hotels in the market."

DREC has a residential portfolio of 25,000 housing units currently being managed by its asset management arm, Wasl Properties, with an occupancy rate ranging 92-93 per cent. The company has delivered about 5,000 units during the last 3-4 years and has a few hundred units currently under development.

Al Qasim said, DREC has done well even in economic downturn. "While a lot of other developers and companies' operations shrunk, we grew our portfolio and our rental income also has gone up. This is a phenomenon and reaction seen and reported on globally to these kinds of circumstances in all urban business centres like ours.

"We are a solid company and ready to play a strong role in the economy of Dubai."

Dubai Government has amended the law that helped set up DREC in 2007, bringing it under the direct control of the Ruler's Court, giving it a wider mandate to expand its portfolio and achieve greater financial independence.

The company, which inherited a large pool of government housing assets when formed in 2007, is looking at rationalising rents across its portfolio. "We are following the rent index of the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA).

The company has a solid cash flow coming from rents and lease contracts across its assets — part of which is re-invested in new projects.

Al Qasim said, in terms of portfolio size, DREC is the largest real estate company in the emirate. In addition to the residential portfolio, it owns a large pool of luxury hotels including the Hyatt Regency, Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Le Meridien Dubai, Le Royal Meridien, Le Meridien Mina Seyahi, Westin Dubai hotel and Dubai Golf which runs Dubai Creek Golf Club and Emirates Golf Club. It also has 5,000 industrial plots under management.

He said, following the economic recession, Dubai is back on a growth mode.

"The economy is back on growth track and we see market picking up. We have witnessed a steady growth and we look forward to a better growth track going forward."

The Dubai office market has shown healthy increase in occupier demand during the first three months of 2011, fuelled by a number of factors, namely the increased affordability of office rents, the choice and variety of stock on the market and the slow return of confidence in both the local and global economies, according to a new report.

Dubai is still viewed as an important and strategic location for businesses to have a presence, the report from real estate specialist Cluttons shows.
 
With the city becoming affordable, this is a good time for foreign companies to establish themselves within Dubai, in addition to long established firms looking to take advantage of newer, higher spec office space, and for corporates already long established there to take advantage of good deals for newer, higher specification office space than their existing premises, it suggests.

Office rents have seen no movement in districts of DIFC, Sheikh Zayed Road, Tecom A&B and Emaar Square in the past three months, with rental values ranging between AED100 to AED 50 per square feet per annum.

Older business districts such as Tecom C, Business Bay, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Deira and Bur Dubai have seen rents falling between 7 to 30% in the last quarter.

Prices have held steady in more prestigious office locations, such as the DIFC and Sheikh Zayed Road in response to demand. ‘This is an encouraging sign that the market is in recovery mode. However, overall, the market still shows a trend of downward pressure on rents that was seen throughout 2010, caused by the oversupply of new office stock,’ the report says.

Cluttons estimates that throughout 2011 an additional 10 million square feet of new office stock will come onto the market, the majority of which will be in new business districts of Tecom C, Business Bay, JLT and Dubai Silicon Oasis. Rents in these areas are predicted to show the largest falls.
 
‘Despite the high commercial vacancy levels, surprisingly, one feature holding back the commercial market is the mixed ownership of many office buildings and the relative lack of larger space available to lease from a single landlord.  This has led to some firms such as Standard Chartered building its own office space, tailor made to its own specific requirements, the report points out.
 
Vacancy levels in the market currently stand at an estimated 40% across Dubai. ‘This level appears to be increasing within some of the older, more established districts of the city such as Deira and Bur Dubai, as occupiers migrate to better quality office stock in the CBD areas of Sheikh Zayed Road, Downtown and the DIFC. Stronger demand in these areas has prevented prices falling, indeed these have held fast since the fourth quarter of 2010, it adds.
  
Cluttons notes the increasing flexibility of lease terms offered by landlords in light of high vacancy levels, who are more willing to offer larger rent free periods coupled with longer leases, and pay agency fees. ‘This is common practice in most foreign markets, and as more landlords attract these strategies, it will help drive Dubai's market to a higher level of maturity,’ it adds.

Dubai’s newest residential property tower, The Torch, has become the world’s tallest residential skyscraper, beating the Tower of Gold Coast in Australia by 25 meters.

At 348 meters with 86 floors, the US$182 million development is now complete, developers Select Group confirmed.

‘This is a milestone for the Group and we are proud to be contributing to the list of global firsts Dubai has achieved over the years. We would like to position The Torch as our tribute to this cosmopolitan city which despite the downturn in the real estate sector and fluctuations in the economy has shown resilience to weather the extreme economic downturn,’ said Rahail Aslam, chief executive officer of Select Group.

‘The Torch, a defining landmark of Dubai Marina skyline, offering stunning views across the Jumeirah beachfront, is a sold out property and a testimony to Select Group’s continuing commitment to Dubai and the potential of its property sector as it gradually emerges from the shadows of the impact of the global financial crisis,’ he added.

The Torch is also unusual in being a 100% residential tower unlike many mixed use high rise developments vying for the tallest title. A thumb rule followed by global institutions like the Emporis Standards Committee (ESC) and the Council on Tall Building and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which monitor these records is that a building should at least have 90% residential use to qualify for the tallest residential tower title.

It has 676 apartments and an array of modern amenities including a gymnasium, sauna/steam room, a retail zone at the Podium level and eight levels of parking.

‘Our success story is based on foundations of trust, integrity and corporate governance. We have been able to continue developing in Dubai because of our high caliber of leadership supported by a team with extensive experience and skill sets,’ added Aslam.

He said Select Group has already delivered several completed projects which enjoy consistent occupancy rates in excess of 85%. The tenancy retention rates in Select Group properties are probably one of the highest in Dubai Marina and this has been achieved through quality of construction, design, active management and detailed development planning from design to handover and operation, he explained.

‘The competition landscape has been evolving since 2007 and changed quite significantly in 2009. Despite the difficulties faced in what undoubtedly has been the most difficult economic period any developer has faced, Select Group has diligently worked towards completion of its iconic projects in Dubai Marina,’ Aslam said.
 
The developer is also making substantial progress to complete another three towers in Dubai Marina later this year including Bay Central, a mixed use development with two residential towers and a five star hotel. Select will complete the two residential towers later this year, followed by the hotel by early 2013. Botanica, a 41 storey development with a botanical garden on the 27th floor, has views across the Marina and Gulf Sea.

Reference: www.propertywire.com