According to Obelisk International, the Brazilian property market is performing well and looks set to continue its expansion.

The firm cited comments from Gary Garrabrant, chief executive officer of Equity International, who told the Bloomberg Link Brazil Conference that there are "growth opportunities driven by fundamental demand in Brazilian real estate sectors".

"Cityscape has become a benchmark event for the real estate market and we feel that our presence there represents our commitment to local investors to continually offer the best real estate investment opportunities in the world," commented Elysian Group Chairman Masood Naseeb. "It's a great opportunity for us to showcase our new developments and illustrate to the end users and investors visiting the show the kind of returns you can get on your investment by investing in the right projects," Naseeb added.

The doors will open at 10 AM sharp for the investors and will continue till 6 PM. So, if you are really looking for a great investment opportunity then this event is for you.

“Brazil is the best place to put your money online for next ten years"-- Financial Times.

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.