Solidere Int’l Developments Progress Despite Global Crisis

With overall business slowing in real estate development, Solidere International seems to be in a better position to negotiate with contractors by bringing prices down. In its latest move, Solidere International has highlighted the significant progress made at its $60 billion Al Zorah project in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, with infrastructure works underway, supported by a strong financial pos ... more

Limitless Reviews Arabian Canal Project And Staff

Dubai property firm Limitless said it is reviewing the pace of development of its Arabian Canal project, the largest of three it has in the emirate, as well as staffing levels, given the current market conditions. The firm, which is controlled by government-owned Dubai World, dismissed a newspaper report on Wednesday that it would put sales of their properties on hold, along with another major  ... more

Damac Announces Dh500 M Profit For First Nine Months

Property developer Damac have announced profits of Dh500 million for the first nine months of this year. Hussain Sajwani, chairman of Damac Holding, said that while their projects that have already been launched are still going ahead, plans to expand to new territories, such as India, Pakistan and Morocco, are on hold. Sajwani said Damac in Dubai has a total borrowing value of about Dh420 milli ... more

Damac Shelves Expansion And Denies IPO, Merger Plans

Dubai’s largest private real estate developer Damac Properties on Tuesday said it was not the right time to go for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and that it has shelved plans to expand operations into India, Pakistan, Morocco and Tunisia due to the current market conditions. No company should go for an IPO at this time. Future plans for the public issue will depend on the market conditions,  ... more

Al Madar Launches $381 M Tower In Dubai

Al Madar Investments today has launched Suhail Tower, a Dhs1.4bn ($381m) residential project located in the Madinat Al Arab area of the Dubai Waterfront. The 47-storey tower, which is scheduled to be complete in late 2011, will encompass studio, one, two and three bedroom apartments with luxury penthouses occupying the top 3 floors. Madinat Al Arab is one of the ten areas of the Dubai Waterfron ... more

Omniyat May Restructure Its Payment Plans

Dubai-based developer Omniyat Properties plans to restructure its payment plans to boost sales and says that all of its Dhs21bn of projects are either are under construction or awaiting launch, reported Gulf News. Mehdi Amjad, executive chairman and president of Omniyat, said the split between the company's projects, both under construction and those not yet launched was about 50-50. With mortg ... more

Aabar To Build Towers In Al Raha

Construction Firms Feel The Heat Of Real Estate Slowdown

From prefabricated walls to pipework and fittings, Gulf construction companies are putting plans on hold and see tough times ahead in Dubai, as developers review and slow projects due to the global credit crisis. The once-booming real estate sector of the emirate is feeling the pain as projects are scaled back, property prices fall, and jobs are cut. Gulf Wall, a firm that supplies precast wall ... more

Emaar's Alabbar Real Estate Sector Must Unite

Emaar Chairman Mohamed Alabbar has said it is time for Dubai's real estate sector to 'unite and collaborate'. About 70% of Dubai property projects are controlled by three companies - Emaar, Nakheel and Dubai Holding, and this, he said, was good for the strength of the market. Alabbar admitted property prices were slipping, but said this was not a bad thing for the market.

Omniyat Cuts Nearly 100 Jobs

Dubai-based developer Omniyat has sacked nearly 100 employees over cash flow problems, Gulf News has reported, citing a source. However, a spokesperson for the developer issued a statement saying that the number is 'completely incorrect', adding that it 'is less than 100'. Meanwhile, the developer has postponed the launch of several projects until 'conditions can cope with them', said Alex Anda ... more

Palm Jumeirah Prices Drop 40%

Property prices on Palm Jumeirah in Dubai have fallen as much as 40% since September, Reuters has reported. A four-bedroom villa is now selling for Dhs10m ($2.72m), down from Dhs15m in September. The man-made island was developed by government-owned Nakheel.

Dubai Developer Demands Up To 88% Increase On Price To Pay Construction Costs

The company behind the Prodigy development in Dubai's Jumeirah Village, MiNC, has sent a letter to investors asking for extra capital to cover construction costs after cash flow shortages caused by the withdrawal of project financing by the two funding banks.

Dubai Real Estate Prices Expected To Rise

The future of real estate in Dubai is sunny, with most real estate agents predicting the market will pick up in the next six months. If we look at other markets, as the availability of financial lending changed, there was a slow period for a couple of months and then the market improved in terms of transactions," Ryan Mahoney, managing director of Better Homes, said. Mahoney said the number of  ... more

Positive Opportunities Seen For Abu Dhabi’s Real Estate Sector

The current global economic situation offers positive opportunities for Abu Dhabi’s developers to press ahead with implementing quality, standards and transparency in property development, according to a real estate executive. Real estate has a long term investment horizon and with the current global re-pricing of risks, developers are restructuring their approach and placing stronger emphasis  ... more

Dubai Launches Online Registration Of Properties

Dubai Government has launched an online property registration scheme, Oqood, that analysts say, will lead to a higher level of transparency and eventually create an online property price index (PPI). Dubai's Land Department in conjunction with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera), yesterday said, the new online application 'Oqood' will enable the effective implementation of Law No. 13 of ... more

Property Prices Dip In Dubai And Abu Dhabi

A new report by HSBC Global Research has found that property prices in the secondary market fell in October by 4% in Dubai and 5% in Abu Dhabi. The fall in prices was greater in Abu Dhabi because the emirate's property market has a greater proportion of off-plan sales, the report said. In Dubai, prices on the Pal on Palm Jumeirah fell 32%, and at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)  ... more

Emaar Offers Flexible Payment Plan For Buyers

Emaar Properties yesterday said it has unveiled a flexible payment scheme aimed at making it easier for customers to purchase property in Dubai, as sales across Dubai's real estate has come to a near halt. With the innovative 'To Own' scheme, Emaar is initially rolling out two programmes - 'Plan to Own' and 'Rent to Own,' both of which will enable customers to own property under more affordable ... more

Emaar Launches New Payment Scheme

Emaar Properties has unveiled a new scheme aimed at making it easier for customers to purchase property in Dubai. The 'To Own' scheme consists of two programmes: 'Plan to Own' and 'Rent to Own.' The Plan to Own scheme is an extended payment plan, in which Emaar supplies 25% of funding to be paid back in annual installments over five years. This is separate to the mortgage payments. Under the Re ... more

Damac Properties Cuts 200 Jobs

Damac Properties has been forced to lay off 200 employees at its Dubai office due to falling sales, reported The National. The job cuts have been made across divisions including sales, marketing, recruitment and administration. The company's chief executive, Peter Riddoch, said the decision was 'inevitable' in light of a severe slowdown in the global property market.

UAE 'Faces Slower Real Estate Growth

The UAE faces a slowdown in loan growth and real estate activity as it grapples with the fallout of the global financial crisis, policymakers said. States in the world's biggest oil-exporting region are expecting the global problems to put the brakes on a regional econ-omic boom supported by six years of high oil prices. But Gulf economies sitting on surplus oil revenues would continue to post  ... more

Tdic To Reprioritise Some Projects, But Museum Plans Are Unchanged

The Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC), which manages the development of real estate assets held by the Abu Dhabi government, has decided to reprioritise some projects because of the global credit crisis. At the Abu Dhabi Conference 2008, organised by the Middle East Economic Digest (Meed) here on Sunday, Lee L. Tabler, TDIC's chief executive officer, said, The global capital mar ... more

Abu Dhabi Supply Needs To Be Met In Four Years

Demand for real estate units in Abu Dhabi will be met in approximately four years, Urban Planning Council General Manager Falah Al Ahbabi told delegates at the MEED Abu Dhabi Conference: 'The economy is growing so fast but infrastructure and building will take at least four years. We are putting a lot of pressure on developers and we are going to solve the issue. Prices will stabilise, and supp ... more

Tiger Delivers Jumeirah Lakes Towers Project

Tiger Properties has announced the delivery of a 40-storey tower in new Dubai. The Jumeirah Lakes Towers project is located immediately in front of a Dubai Metro station, as well as walking distance from Almas Tower, which will house the region's only diamond bourse, the Dubai Diamond Exchange. The company's facilities management arm, having newly been formed, intends to serve the 500,000 squar ... more

Nakheel Complete Designs Of Three 12-Lane Bridges On Palm Deira

Dubai's master developer, Nakheel, has announced that design work of three 12-lane bridges connecting Palm Deira to mainland Deira has been completed. The bridges will cost an estimated Dh1, 980 million. The announcement follows a meeting between Abdulla Bin Sulayem, Operations Director of Palm Deira and James R. Shabelle, President, Parsons Transportation Group, a global provider of constructi ... more

Abyaar Posts Kd24.33 Million Net Profit

Abyaar Real Estate Development, one of the leading luxury developers in the Middle East, announced its financial results for the first nine months of 2008, posting net profits of KD24,325,232, compared to the KD 12,491,217 reported for the same period of 2007, representing an increase of 95 per cent. Earnings per share rose to 50.14 fils per share for the first nine months of 2008, compared to  ... more

Dubai Developer Forced To Cut Prices

In a turn-around for the Dubai real estate market, Ukranian company VIP Waterfront have been forced to cut prices for the newly launched project by a third from those planned earlier in the year, according to the National. The units are currently being offered at Dhs2,300 per square foot.

Al Jabal Opens Abu Dhabi Office

Al Jabal Holding is opening an Abu Dhabi property branch under the banner of Al Jabal Real Estate. The division is looking to capitalise on the growth rate predicted in the emirate's property market over the coming decade.

Real Estate And Bank Stocks Bring Down Dubai And Abu Dhabi Markets

Dubai's main index closed 1.63 per cent lower at 2,907 points, weighed down by bank and real estate stocks. Emirates NBD and Dubai Islamic Bank ended 4.72 per cent and 1.22 per cent lower respectively. Emaar Properties and Union Properties fell 1.14 per cent and 1.96 per cent respectively, while mortgage lender Tamweel slipped 4.52 per cent. In Abu Dhabi, the benchmark ended 0.55 per cent lower ... more

Premier Twin Towers Launched

Premiers Property Developers, a part of Premiers Group, is launching Premiers Twin Towers, a project worth Dhs1bn situated in Jumeirah Village Circle, in Dubai. The Premiers Twin Towers residential and mixed use development will be made up of 33 residential floors. The project is scheduled for completion by mid 2011.