Showing posts with label Dubai Real Estate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dubai Real Estate. Show all posts

Monday, August 24, 2009

Al Mazaya to invest $100m in Dubai Property

Al Mazaya Holding plans to invest $100m or AED 367 million in properties in The Palm Jumeirah, Burj Dubai and Dubai International Financial Centre areas. The move aims to set up an income generating portfolio for the firm, which expects to start buying properties from September. 'We have put $50m aside and other investors from Kuwait have committed to invest the other $50m. We feel the market has hit the bottom,' Khalid S. Esbaitah, CEO of Al Mazaya Holding said.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Dubai Holding completes merger of its property, business parks units

UAE. Dubai Holding today announced that the first phase of the company's realignment has been completed with the formation of two verticals, Property and Business Parks.

The formation of these two verticals is the first step in executing the full realignment into four verticals, as announced recently, in order to streamline its operations and ensure the continued delivery of world-class projects and future growth of the organization.

The verticals allow Dubai Holding to build on its core competencies in two major specializations and effectively bring together complementary assets across the business, allowing access to greater benefits for customers. Existing project plans will remain in place.

The Property vertical integrates and leverages the strengths and portfolios of Dubai Properties Group with Sama Dubai, as well as Tatweer's real estate development projects including Remraam, The Tiger Woods Dubai, Dubailand and Bawadi, to create one of the largest real estate and development based businesses in the region. Each business brings considerable and distinctive strength to the Property vertical.

The Business Parks vertical integrates the existing operations of Tecom Investments with Dubai Healthcare City and Dubai Industrial City, thus expanding the focus of the development of innovation in information, communication, media and knowledge to also include healthcare and industrial development.

Ahmad Bin Byat, CEO, Dubai Holding, said: 'The process of realignment has led to the development of Dubai Holding into a more efficient organisation, able to respond more effectively to the needs of its stakeholders. The transition has been smooth and had minimum impact on our relationships with our partners and clients.'

Source: www.Bi-me.com

Dubai group sells Mirvac stake

MIRVAC, the property developer, has lost its largest shareholder after Dubai group Nakheel dumped its final holding on the market yesterday in a $206 million deal.

Nakheel emerged as Mirvac's cornerstone investor less than two years ago and steadily built up its stake in the group to 12 per cent. But the group has been gradually selling down its shareholding over the past year, even though it spent $95m to participate in Mirvac's recent $1.1billion equity raising.

It made the surprise decision yesterday to quit the remaining 6.1 per cent of stock on market, prompting speculation a deal was needed to address Nakheel's financing issues in its home market.

A block trade of the Dubai company's remaining stock, 172 million shares, was carried out by Deutsche Bank, which placed the stock with a range of institutional investors at $1.20.

The trade was done at a marginal discount to the $1.25 to $1.27 range in which it was trading before the placement was carried out.

The transaction will earn Nakheel about $206m and effectively ends the group's ambitious foray into the Australian commercial property market.

Mirvac chief executive Nicholas Collishaw last night told The Weekend Australian the property group would not, with the exit of its largest investor, lose its firepower in pitching for developments. "It means for us, from our point of view, business as usual," Mr Collishaw said.

"It has come as a surprise. If there is a range of institutions that have taken over the big line of stock that has gone through, then I think we will end up with a more stable investor base."

Nakheel emerged as a potential player in January last year when the group, which is part of the state-owned Dubai World Group, paid $680m to take a 12 per cent stake in Mirvac.

Its initial ownership purchase was done at $5.20 a share.

The Dubai property developer has been a mixed shareholder for Mirvac, after it refused to participate in a capital raising in November last year that effectively diluted some its stock holding.

The group did, however, buy into the June deal when Mirvac raised $1.1bn to strengthen its balance sheet.

Nakheel spokesman Natasha Boukhary refused to respond to written questions from The Weekend Australian last night.

The group had originally planned to compete for the right to develop the Barangaroo site on the western fringe of Sydney Harbour.

Nakheel had flagged its looming debt issue in Dubai, with the property division facing refinancing commitments of $US3.5bn due this year.

Dubai World has been forced to sell assets globally, with one of its cornerstone investments, the Queen Elizabeth 2 luxury ship, expected to be sold.

Source: The Australian News

Friday, August 21, 2009

Do we see rebound in property market on 2011?

The property market in Dubai is stabilising and set for a rebound in 2011, according to the latest research but there is still a concern in the industry about over supply.

There are indication that Dubai property market is improving because of the volume of transactions has remained consistent in the 1st half of 2009 and because of the lessening gap between asking and the achieved prices.

The stabilisation of transactional volumes is an important indicator which reflects improved confidence among investors and the market is beginning to stabilise albeit at significantly lower levels of pricing than those seen earlier in the year,' explained Craig Plumb, head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle Mena division

Asking prices for properties have fallen 49 percent from their peak in the third quarter of 2008, but the rate of decline slowed in the second quarter of this year. The asking prices have fallen more sharply than achieved prices in 2009, which is another indicator of price stabilization.

Dubai, the frontier of recovery

Here is an interview of Gulf news wit Omniyats executive chairman.

Dubai: The results are in for Dubai's listed real estate developers and they were a mixed lot although there is a lot to be optimistic about in Dubai's real estate market. Here, Mahdi Amjad, executive chairman of private developer, Omniyat Properties and president and chief executive of Omniyat Holdings, explains why quarterly results should be taken with a pinch of salt, the key to a better fourth quarter and why Dubai is the frontier of recovery.

Amjad took a deep interest in the trading activities of his family's business at a young age before going on to establish his first company Almasa Computers in Dubai. Over time, Amjad grew this small business into a regional IT conglomerate achieving a $450 million (Dh1.6 billion) annual turnover in 2006.

Al Masa was renamed Omniyat Properties in 2004 to focus more on Amjad's love for real estate.

Omniyat's project portfolio is over $3 billion.The company, whose name means wishes in Arabic, has eight projects underway in Dubai.

Gulf News: Tell me how business is doing right now and how plans are going forward.

Mahdi Amjad: 2009 is a key year for us as we are going to be delivering three of our projects, with a value of over Dh1.9 billion. They include residential, commercial as well as retail - One Business Bay, Bayswater and The Square which was handed over last week and it is a phenomenal project because we managed to deliver it in a way that has exceeded expectations.

And honestly it will be run like a resort - amenities, mixed-use office tower to be launched later and then by mid-April, the Movenpick serviced apartments.

In this difficult economic time, how is Omniyat keeping its customers happy?

The fact that Omniyat intends to deliver on its promises and not only that, to keep (close to) its values in the good times and to over-achieve them.

We try very hard to solve any problems coming up in this environment, quality and our relationships with our investors are key. We understand the challenges around the world, not only Dubai, but we have obligations, it's a balancing act and so we are constantly coming up with solutions.

Some developers and contractors are now looking to other markets - Saudi Arabia and North Africa in particular - do you have any plans to expand into these markets or others?

We have created an independent unit, the Business Development Unit, which is looking at projects in Saudi and even in Europe and are deploying our development skills and leveraging our experience there. We need to be careful internationally as it's a new landscape but work is in progress but it depends on the opportunity. Saudi is an option and there is a focus on Europe in general. We're gearing up and we are ready.

Do you have a time frame in mind, when you'd like to enter these markets?

We hope to be set up in the next three to six months.

Another development company in Dubai is focusing a lot on the rental side of their business, so that if the market experiences a future downturn where sales will be dented, business won't be affected as badly. Is this something Omniyat might consider as a business strategy?

Overall, for development companies it is important to maintain a constant income stream to support them in challenging times. In a company there is an upbeat and a downbeat but always consistency of income streams, whether it's new revenue streams or rental models, but for Omniyat we have our asset management arm. So we depend on that as an income generator for the future - a consistent income stream for the years to come.

There have been a lot of reports and analysis focusing on the bottom of the market and they all have different outlooks. So, in your view, has the property market here hit bottom?

We have definitely seen a flattening out and we've had more enquiries which gives us a feel that we're close to the bottom. Prices have adjusted and momentum is much, much better in the second quarter than in the first quarter. And sentiment is also better.

Omniyat is a private real estate investment and development company, but you've seen the Q2 results for the listed real estate developers. Do you think the results are a fair indication of where the market is?

No. These results of listed companies are a reflection of the situation some time back. We cannot link that with the market now. Dubai has had a very high growth in 2007 and 2008 and so had a higher adjustment in 2009. Abu Dhabi had relatively low growth and so low adjustment this year. The fourth quarter will be much better.

Is it easier or harder for private developers in the current climate?

In the short term, the repercussion of the financial crunch on the business overall was not easy. However, real estate is a long-term investment measured over prolonged periods of time. In the current economic environment, companies should shift their focus from growth to consolidation and prepare themselves for opportunities that will arise as soon as markets start to pick up again.

What issues still need to be addressed? For example, how much is financing still an issue?

Financing is a key issue that fuels everything else. The Support Fund will be a major contribution to the infrastructure and a (help) to developers so the effect on all consumers will be positive.

But also the banks and their involvement is getting better but we still haven't got back to where we were. Clarity from the Tamweel-Amlak merger will definitely help.

What Rera is doing in the current environment is definitely giving more transparency to the market and they have reacted so quickly. I think there must be more and more transparency, focus on quality and to consistently deliver.

Dubai is a phenomenal brand. It is a success story and is built on years and years of hard work and vision of its leaders. I am a big believer in the Dubai phenomenon because of the fundamentals here - it is well-infrastructured, it's a well-advanced city and has maintained its competitive advantage. Dubai will be the frontier of recovery.

What does Dubai now need to do to become, as you said, the frontier of recovery?

Quality and commitment and to be as transparent as promised. This all adds to the credibility of Dubai and reinforces our recovery. Fourth quarter outlook depends on the global environment but will definitely be better than the second quarter so we are looking for the momentum to be confirmed in the fourth quarter.

From my perspective, we need a continuation in delivery with superior quality. That is our key focus. We'll be announcing major milestones in the next three months for our next three projects.

Source: Gulf News

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Tips On Buying Commercial Real Estate

If you want to invest in real estate you need to look at commercial real estate deals. This is where many real estate lenders and hard money lenders are investing their money. Commercial real estate finance is now taking a hard hold for many new investors.

Property agents have also noticed an upturn in commercials. This is a great deal for them as they turn their concentration to these properties. They typical have a list of investors that they can now introduce to this side of investing. So what is the first thing you need to do to find these properties?

To find commercial real estate deals, find a broker that has dealt in this area for a while. An agent with connection can bring you many good deals. Just like a residential agent, they can do a lot of the research for you.

An agent that has connections in commercial will be able to bring you new deals. You want this person to be Internet savvy. The Internet has many resources for investing that you would not be able to find otherwise. The Internet is the future of listings for Commercial Deals, just as it is now for residential deals.

One thing to pay close attention to is requesting an environmental hazards report. These reports will give you information on this property. It will tell you if this property has in the past been associated with hazards clean up. This is critical since a clean up again can cost a lot of money.

Make sure when you find a good agent use him to buy your property. He will have all the forms and procedures to you buy a property for you. Even if you find a property yourself, always ask him to check it out for you. He can save you a lot of money by getting a better deal than you could.

Do worry about their fees. They usually save you enough in the deal to pay for their fees. And remember their deal has already considered location. The right location is one of their key criteria in finding deals for you. Once you find a property you like, you need to make an appraisal. It is more difficult to make an appraisal on these types of properties, since like properties are not always close by.

Getting the best deal will help to get you better financing. Lenders generally offer LTV;s of about 75% to lower their risk. The property rental value is considered when the buyer is qualified for the financing.

When you decide to buy a commercial property, your choice of funding can originate from many different sources. You can approach hard money lenders to cover certain costs that might not be covered by normal commercial real estate finance. SBA loans and private lenders are also a good source of money.

About the Author

To get hooked up with a site that brings all commercial deal parties together, check out our site. This site is designed to bring together all parties involved in commercial deals. At Used Engines , you will find commercial real estate finance and property sellers. Check out the various leads that you can use to make more money. Visit our site and don’t miss out on what you could have had.

To find Dubai Commercial Properties, visit Provident Real Estate Agents.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

4 Bedroom Villa in Meadows

The Meadows is a delightful place to live. A 4 bedroom villa is for rent for AED 350,000 annual rent

Project/Building: Meadows 9
Location/Area: Meadows
Emirates/City: Dubai
Property Type: Villa
Bedrooms: 4
Total Area: 4,018 Sq. Ft
Furnished: Unfurnished
Ready Date: July 12, 2009

Visit Provident Estate to view more Dubai Villas for Rent or call 04-3233609.

2 Bedroom in Discovery Gardens

We have a 2 bedroom apartment for rent in Discovery Gardens for only AED 80,750/year payable in 1 cheque.

Project/Building: Contemporary
Location/Area: Discovery Gardens
Property Type: Apartment
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 2
Total Area: 1,380 Sq. Ft
Furnished: Unfurnished
View: Garden
Ready Date: July 9, 2009

Visit Provident Estate - Apartments for Rent Dubai more information or call 04-3233609.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Popular areas to buy, rent and invest in Dubai

It is important that when we are buying, renting, selling or investing in Dubai's real estate market, we must know which area or location is popular.

So I'm writing here down the list of areas so you can get an idea of what to expect if you're looking to rent, buy a property here in Dubai.

Areas to Buy

Dubai Marina 35%
Palm Jumeirah 13%
Jumeirah Lake Towers 10%
Emirates Living 10%
Dubai Sports City 6%
Jumeirah Islands 3%
International City 3%
Others 3%

Areas to Rent

Dubai Marina 52%
Mirdiff/Al Warqa 10%
Jumeirah Beach Residence 10%
Jumeirah 7%
Discover Gardens 3%
Palm Jumierah 3%
Sheikh Zayed Road 3%
Green Community 3%
Others 3%

You can now browse our Property for rent and Property for sale once you have decided to choose which of the popular places you would want.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Dubai land deals reach Dh2.15b

Dubai Property - The total costs of land transactions in Dubai last week reached Dh2.15 billion, of which sales exceeded Dh1.41 billion. The total value of mortgages during the period was Dh736.89 million, according to the Land Department.

There were total of 81 sale transactions were registered with the Department by the end of the week, the most valuable of which was 430,338 square foot plot in Al Ruwayyah that was sold for Dh207.2 million.

The next two most prominent sales saw a second plot on Shaikh Zayed Road acquired for Dh124 million and another in Emirates Hills-3 for Dh20 million.

Emirates Hills-3 was the most active area in terms of the week's sales, with 15 transactions. The Palm Jumeirah followed with 14 sales.