A report from
Reidin
yesterday
said Dubai was the "most expensive emerging property market"
, beating out 58 other cities in 34 emerging markets. The average cost of a home in Dubai in February was US$7,000 (Dh25,690). Reidin uses data directly from the Government of Dubai, so the statistics should be a bit more precise than the average poll of brokers. Dubai and Abu Dhabi
also moved up on the best places to live in the Middle East
, according to the Mercer Quality of Life report.
Sorouh Real Estate
announced this morning that it had profits of Dh130.4m in the first three months of the year. This represents a drop of 64 per cent from the same period in 2008. "The business is in good financial health thanks to our cash conservation and cost management initiatives," said Abubaker Siddiq al Khouri, managing director of the company. "This, combined with Abu Dhabi's strong market fundamentals, makes us well-placed to capitalise on our position when markets recover, delivering significant long-term value to our shareholders."
Read the press release from Sorouh
.
Tamweel
and
Amlak Finance
, the two largest home finance providers in the country,
will be revived "soon" as lenders that can take deposits from customers
. It is important for the companies to take deposits so that they do not have to rely on borrowing money from other banks. When the credit crunch hit the Gulf, Tamweel and Amlak were not able to keep lending because foreign banks stopped lending. Under the new system, the companies will be able to lend based on deposits as well.
Flamingo Creek, a development owned by
National Bonds Corporation
,
will get underway "in the next few weeks"
, according to Markus Giebel, the chief executive of Deyaar. The project has been up in the air for months because of delays to
Sama Dubai
's Lagoons project - where Flamingo Creek is located - and
a shake-up in the management of property projects
at National Bonds.
A new law clarifying residency visas for property buyers
, Emirates 24/7 Business reports. This is important because many buyers in the UAE come from places like Iran and Russia. The ability to get a visa to live in your property is a deal breaker.
Abu Dhabi
is looking at ways to minimise the losses of shops along Salam Street
, where the Government has started a massive infrastructure redevelopment project, Gulf News reports. It was still unclear, however, whether the shops would be compensated for their losses.
Khaleej Times
announces that Abu Dhabi Municipality is planning to set up the "six Continents Fun City"
in the capital at a cost of Dh550m.
