What was the general market movement in Abu Dhabi in the first quarter?
The Abu Dhabi rental market remained strong in the first three months of the year amid government initiatives and economic growth, according to brokers.
Property consultancy Asteco said the villa rental market continued to achieve good levels of demand across the board, particularly for the well-developed villa communities on Saadiyat and Yas Islands. Average villa rents rose 2 per cent in the first quarter and 5 per cent annually.
"However, there are still some discrepancies in the apartment market with positive and negative rental growth for various buildings within communities and across different areas, depending on the building’s age and quality," it said.
Apartment rents were flat during the quarter and down 1 per cent year-on-year, according to Asteco. Although new leases in various good quality developments are currently being offered at higher rates.
The coronavirus pandemic brought a desire for space, which resulted in many tenants moving throughout the city into larger properties and established communities, Kika Pavese, managing director at MD Real Estate in Abu Dhabi, told The National.
She said that with the demand for larger properties and established communities increasing, some areas in Abu Dhabi have registered an increase in rentals and some felt a slight fall. In general the market is stable, she added.
"Abu Dhabi is a family-oriented city that offers long-term stability," she said. "The best deals in terms of prices are still in Al Reem Island, where the supply is higher than the demand. The oversupply created a competition among landlords who had to adjust to the market through incentives such as free rental periods and multiple cheques.
"On another level, Yas Island’s plans are incredible and remarkable. Here, demand is higher than supply, which creates more desire and higher rental rates. Finding a property on Yas Island can also be considered an incredible deal due to the lack of supply."
The UAE’s non-oil economy expanded an annual 7.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021, driven by easing of pandemic-related restrictions and travel curbs, which boosted local and global demand, the latest figures from the Central Bank of the UAE show.
Government initiatives — such as residency permits for those who have retired and remote workers, in addition to the expansion of the 10-year golden visa programme — helped to improve property market sentiment.
What about supply of new units?
About 3,800 units were delivered in the first three months of 2022, according to Asteco.
These were spread across different areas of Abu Dhabi, including Al Raha Beach, Reem Island, Yas Island and Saadiyat Island.
Several new projects were announced, including the Louvre Abu Dhabi Residences on Saadiyat Island, Reem Hills on Reem Island, and Bloom Living, close to Abu Dhabi International Airport.
CBRE reported an additional 9,588 units are scheduled to be delivered over the course of the year. Of this, 71.1 per cent of scheduled deliveries are in Al Raha Beach, Al Maryah Island or Reem Island.
How did Abu Dhabi's sales prices perform?
Average residential property prices in Abu Dhabi increased by 1.5 per cent in the 12 months to March 2022, CBRE reported in its Q1 market review.
It said average apartment prices increased by 1.6 per cent to reach Dh10,904 per square metre and average villa prices increased by 1.1 per cent to reach Dh8,850 per square metre.
Asteco, meanwhile, described the sales market as continuing "on a strong footing", with high levels of demand for new off-plan villa projects, as well as completed villas, particularly within well-developed communities.
"Sales prices for high-quality villas on Saadiyat Island and Yas Island increased by up to 4 per cent to 7 per cent over the quarter, and up to 15 per cent compared to the same period last year," it said. "Apartment sales prices rose marginally by 2 per cent in Q1 2022 and 4 per cent annually."
Abu Dhabi recorded 3,304 real estate deals worth Dh11.3 billion ($3bn) in the first quarter of this year, the emirate’s Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) said.
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MATCH INFO
Manchester United v Brighton, Sunday, 6pm UAE
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
Match info
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Liverpool v Porto, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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MATCH INFO
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
Two products to make at home
Toilet cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castile soap
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice)
Method:
1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.
2. Add the essential oil to the mix.
Air Freshener
100ml water
5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this)
Method:
1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.
2. Shake well before use.
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
More coverage from the Future Forum
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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Napoleon
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Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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What should do investors do now?
What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor?
Should I be euphoric?
No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.
So what happened?
It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.
"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."
Should I buy? Should I sell?
Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.
"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.
All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.
Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.
Will the rally last?
No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.
"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."
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The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 540hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 2,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Kerb weight: 1580kg
Price: From Dh750k
On sale: via special order
ICC Awards for 2021
MEN
Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)
WOMEN
Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)
