Real Estate in Numbers

THIS WEEK'S NUMBER: Dhs 3 trillion

The value in Dirhams - equal to US$ 800 billion - of investment projects to be implemented in the Gulf states over the next five years.

More than 75 per cent of that amount will be in the non-hydrocarbon sector, the International Monetary Fund said in its Regional Economic Outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia.

Read more here.

Bin Hu wants to paint "The World" red

According to this article, the Chinese businessman behind last week's purchase of ‘Shanghai' on Nakheel's The World, will bid to purchase every one of the six islands that represent China on the iconic project.

Bin Hu paid US$28m for the 322,000-sq ft island, which he intends to develop into a luxury development featuring an exclusive hotel and resort, and a series of palatial private villas. The other ‘China' islands are Macao, Beijing, Huainan, Nanjing, and Hong Kong.

Bin Hu marked the purchase event by planting a Chinese flag in the ground and scattering earth brought back from Shanghai over the island.

A few months ago, it was reported that Nakheel sold Greece for US$15.5m to an undisclosed buyer.

Real Estate in Numbers

THIS WEEK'S NUMBER: 2 million

The number of gallons of water supplied every eight hours by the 50-km piping network covering The Dunes Golf Course in Dubai designed by Ernie Els. The infrastructure required to supply the 211-acre 18-hole signature course is now ready.

Almost two million m3 of earth have been moved to form the course and over 6,000 man hours have been spent shaping the course according the the September newsletter from Universal Group.

Set for an official opening in December 2007, there will be a time between completion and opening to allow the course to mature thus providing a high quality playing surface.

Dubai property market is maturing

The latest 'Strata Law' is a good example of one of the administrative and legislative structures coming in place in order to provide a framework for the relationship between buyers and sellers of property as well as the visibility of buyers into the project details.

Quoted from this article, the Strata Law could require developers to disclose a wide range of information in their sales contracts, including:

1. Building and community service charge budgets for both operational and capital expenses (including a breakdown on a per unit basis),
2. utility supply agreements containing a schedule of rates and charges,
3. copies of intended contracts of all pre-committed service contractors,
4. copies of constitution or association rules for future owners associations,
5. details of the intended titling structure for a project as well as staging of development and approximations of numbers of dwellings,
6. copies of survey plans showing unit boundaries, car park and storage allocation, and
7. details of other arrangements materially affecting an owner's interest.

It is concluded that greater transparency is designed to ensure that there will be no future surprises to investors or buyers. All the information will be there in front of them prior to signing.

Real Estate in Numbers

THIS WEEK'S NUMBER: 600bn

The amount in Dirhams - equal to US$ 600 billion - that will be invested in real estate and related projects in order to realise Abu Dhabi's new "2030 Master Plan".

According to the Urban Development Council, which designed the master plan, the population of Abu Dhabi is set to increase from the current 930,000 to 3.1 million in 2030.

Read the full article here.

Drop in residential property prices not likely until 2009: EFG-Hermes

The Research Analyst at EFG-Hermes, Sana Kapadia says "Supply in residential property market will continue to be restrained this year. We expect the year 2009 to be the peak year for supply, which means that, the market may not see a decline in prices before this happens."

Kapadia went on to add that, a 10-15% rise in average prices is expected this year, while a rise of 5% to 10% is expected in 2008. Due to most supplies hitting the market in 2008, the prices will begin to drop in 2009, witnessing an approximate decline of 15% to 20% by 2011.

Read the full article here.