Morning round-up: National Holding to expand regionally

At a time when companies seem to be pulling back from some of their international projects,

National Holding

in Abu Dhabi

into Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Iraq, Nathalie Gillet reports. The holding companies and all its entities, including

Bloom Properties

and

Emirates International Investment Company

, are moving to a new building in the Abu Dhabi National Exibition Centre in 2011.

Despite 100 attendees,

Madania Real Estate

's

, Alex Delmar-Morgan reports in Arabian Business. The company was trying to stir up activity with a novel sales format, but none of the properties met their reserve price. In fact, there were no bidders at all for two properties - a four bedroom apartment in JBR and a seven-bedroom villa in Arabian Ranches. Two other properties - a three-bedroom villa and a five-bedroom villa in Arabian Ranches - sold for Dh2.3 and Dh2.8m, respectively, but those sales were below the reserve price and dependent on the sellers accepting them.

Landlords and property agents

, Parag Deulgaonkar reports in Emirates Business 24/7. He spoke to two unnamed realtors, who said they were not following the directive. Rera bases its rental index on these numbers, so a lack of data could have an impact on its accuracy.

Read more updates after the jump

The

Mizin

corruption case

, with the prosecutor arguing that the former chief executive, known only as the 50-year-old SH, gave preferential treatment to a buyer in exchange for bribes, Hani Bathish reports. SH denies accepting the bribes and was granted bail yesterday.

Aldar Properties

, as part of its efforts to align its properties with the changing marketplace, Angela Giuffrida reports.

Re-sales

in the first quarter, Emirates Business 24/7 reports, citing estimates from

Sherwoods Independent Property Consultants

. The company said that this was a big reversal from last year, when off-plan sales were 70 per cent of transactions and resales just 30 per cent.

Dubai

, 7Days reports, citing London-based

Knight Frank

. Nick Barnes, the company's head of international research, said "A lot will depend on developers and how long they can holdo n before getting into fire-sale territory".