Dubai non ne ha bisogno, ma anche Vanity Fair ne parla…

Senza dubbio Dubai non ha più bisogno di sponsorizzazioni per annunciare al mondo di essere una delle terre promesse in cui investire, tuttavia ci fa piacere che testate attente come Vanity Fair decidano di mobilitarsi per parlarne. Vi riportiamo l’articolo qui di seguito. I più attenti di voi sappiano interpretare questo segnale, a presto!

VanityFair Dubai

Up to 500 real estate projects facing axe: RERA

The number of real estate developments in Dubai facing cancellation this year has risen from 300 to 500, the emirate’s property watchdog said.

The projects and their backers are being assessed for financial viability and a list of the terminated developments will be released “very soon”, the chief executive of RERA said.

“We have finished the technical review, site visits have already been done, so we know what stage the projects are at and the strength of the contractor. Now we’re waiting for the financial audit to finish,” Marwan bin Ghalaita told Arabian Business.

“We will release the names [of the cancelled projects] very soon.”

Dubai property transactions increased by 20 percent in the first quarter of 2011, compared to the same period a year earlier, Ghalaita said. Some 10,552 transactions took place, with a value of AED30bn.

Dubai’s property sector was hit hard by the downturn, with billions of dollars worth of projects put on hold or cancelled after real estate prices fell more than 60 percent from their peak.

Speculators caught with multiple properties and little chance to turn a profit fled the market and defaulted on purchases, while other buyers continued to honor their contracts, often paying installments even after work was halted in the aftermath of the crisis.

About half of real estate projects in Dubai were cancelled or suspended after the market collapse.

Ghalaita said in March that 220 projects were going ahead this year, but that RERA was still mulling fresh project cancellations in a bid to control supply.

Under the watchdog’s new scheme to curb new supply in Dubai’s glutted marketplace, any property projects deemed economically unfeasible will face termination between now and 2016.

“Our real estate sector is moving towards better planning. We want to make sure that our real estate sector is sustainable,” Ghalaita said. “The last two years we have spent a lot of time cleaning up after what happened before. Then everybody was busy counting how much money they were making, that’s why nobody was planning real estate.”

Looking forward, the emirate will keep a tight rein on any offplan projects in a bid to avoid the speculator-driven property bubble created after 2006.

“Offplan sales are becoming very regulated. It is still happening, but we are not seeing as many transactions,” he said. “Any new project that comes online will be part of a complete community, with infrastructure, healthcare and amenities; this is the new trend that’s coming to Dubai.”

More lending set to boost Dubai property market, analysts say

The residential property market in Dubai is stabilising with transactions rising in January and February helped by a resurgence of finance for real estate investments, according to the latest report from Cluttons.

The real estate specialist, that has had a dedicated presence in the Middle East since 1976, says in its report covering the first quarter of 2011 that lenders such as Barclays, Standard Chartered and Gulf Finance continue to fight for market share offering competitive terms to a wider range of credit worthy clients.

As well as offering mortgage rates for as low as 4.99%, banks are slashing arrangements fees and timescales to process approvals in an attempt to attract the limited market available.

Other positive activity in the emirate’s property sector concerns those projects which were once on hold and now have resumed construction, as cheaper build costs allow developers to finish construction, a more favourable alternative than the costly return of investors’ capital.

Although project completion includes the possibility of increasing mortgage defaults down the line for investors whose payments are tied to construction milestones, Gulf Finance has stated that clients facing financial hardship will be afforded the opportunity to rework their payment schemes without facing criminal prosecution under Dubai’s strict debt laws, which have in the past encouraged defaulters to flee the Emirate. Although these are reasons for caution, it appears that the market is learning from past mistakes.

The report shows that residential villa units have seen a slowdown in value reduction when compared to the last three months of 2010, especially in the higher end of the market. Villa developments such as Arabian Ranches, Meadows and Palm Jumeirah have seen little to no movement over the last three months, which bodes well for the recovery, it says.

Other villa locations, such as Victory Heights and Motor City have seen moderate drops of 3.6 % from the last three months of 2010.

Apartment values have continued to be eroded by the oversupply of stock on the market. ‘Again, similar to villas, the lower end of the market have seen the highest decreases, where units in areas such as Discovery Gardens and International City have fallen by 8.9% from last quarter.

Signs of a flight to quality market shift continues to be apparent however, as units which are regarded as high end, in locations such as Dubai Marina, Old Town and Palm Jumeirah have seen drops of only 3.7% from the end of 2010,’ the report points out.

The report also indicates that rental values for apartments continued to feel pressure from tenants who continue to take advantage of the over supplied marketplace with apartment rental figures falling between 8 and 10% compared with the previous quarter.

The villa rental market has proved to be slightly more resilient in the more established freehold areas but is expected to soften as we move into the summer. ‘Villa prices and rentals are expected to fall in some areas due to the ever increasing release of notable new freehold units in developments such as The Villa, Falcon City, Sports City and Jumeirah Village,’ it says.

‘These emerging developments lack local amenities and community facilities, which is a deciding factor for prospective tenants and owner-occupiers before they invest. The lack of these facilities contributes to the desirability and demand of such stock, which in turn cause values to drop further and puts additional pressure on the demand of some more known areas,’ it adds.

Dubai real estate to benefit from turmoil

Real estate prices in Dubai are set to stabilise as investors look for a safe haven amid the political turmoil in the region, the head of one the UAE’s largest conglomerates has said.

Dubai, on the brink of a debt default in 2009, has emerged as a magnet for investors fleeing widespread political unrest across the Middle East.

“There is a lot of demand [for property] now. Dubai and the UAE is a safe haven for a lot of people in the region,” Khalaf Al Habtoor, chairman of Al Habtoor Group, said.

“The inflow cash flow is improving…property is definitely going to improve,” he added. “Egyptian businessmen they will move their offices in the UAE and especially to Dubai. Take other [countries] like Syria, Bahrain definitely they are moving and we can see that already.”

Property prices in the emirate declined more than 60 percent from their 2008-peak amid a global economic crisis that caused lending to dry up and speculative demand to decline, Deutsche Bank AG said in February.

Families and businesses from around the region are moving to Dubai attracted by cheaper property prices, schools and luxury hotels, said Al Habtoor.

“Traffic has increased, purchasing power has increased tremendously,” he said. “Schools admissions – we own two schools, [that have a lot of pupils] on the waiting list and we can are trying to open new classes for them to assist to the maximum.

“Look to the hotels they are at 100 percent occupancy.”

Dubai’s economy is expected to increase by around 4 percent this year driven by a growth in trade and services, Dubai Department of Economic Development, said last month.

The UAE’s Minister of Economy said in January that real estate prices will start to show realistic growth by the end of 2011.

“I believe the worst is over for property. And in my estimation, at the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012, we will see positive movement,” Sultan Al Mansouri, told Arabian Business.

“It won’t be a graph like before, but we will see growth which is gradual and more realistic.”

Dubai, mercato in ripresa dal 2012

Santhosh Joseph, il chief executive officer del Dubai Pearl, ha dichiarato alla stampa che il mercato immobiliare di Dubai avvierà la sua fase di ripresa entro la fine del 2011, per poi intraprendere la strada dello sviluppo in maniera più convinta a decorrere dal 2012.

Alla base delle considerazioni del manager di Dubai Pearl stanno soprattutto le valutazioni sul futuro comportamento degli istituti di credito in materia di concessioni creditizie a supporto del mercato immobiliare. “Le banche non possono stare via troppo a lungo”, ha a tal proposito dichiarato Joseph, aggiungendo che “storicamente hanno mostrato sempre la propensione a erogare denaro”, che nella regione è finito per la maggior parte nel mercato immobiliare.

La ripresa del mercato immobiliare di Dubai è particolarmente attesa dagli operatori internazionali: il real estate dell’area ha subito il peggior tracollo mondiale durante l’ultima recessione, con i prezzi in calo di oltre il 50%, e cancellazioni di progetti immobiliari da realizzare per oltre 300 miliardi di dollari.

All’interno di tale scenario, Joseph ha dichiarato che Dubai Pearl è stata colpita meno di altre dalla recente crisi economica, ma che anche per la propria struttura le vendite più sostanziose riguarderanno soprattutto il 2012, mentre il 2010 e il 2011 non saranno caratterizzate da volumi di vendita particolarmente significativi.

Joseph è attualmente titolare del 20% del capitale di Dubai Pearl, mentre il resto della compagnia è detenuto da un gruppo di investitori guidato dal Gruppo Al Fahim, una delle famiglie più ricche di Abu Dhabi. La società sta realizzando una serie di complessi nelle aree delle spiagge artificiali di Dubai, per un’estensione totale di oltre 1,9 milioni di metri quadri, tra spazi residenziali e alberghieri. Le strutture ricettive che sorgeranno nella zona, da realizzarsi entro il 2013, dovrebbero essere in grado di ospitare circa 1.400 stanze.