Bayut.com News http://www.bayut.com/ Friday, Mar 19, 2010 03:48:16 PM http://www.bayut.com/images/common/bayut_logo.jpg http://www.bayut.com/ Bayut.com News Section <p>The Tamani Hotel at Park Lane Office Tower features in an unusual structure where the hotel begins on the upper floors. The mixed-use building, which is 150 metres tall, is made up of both commercial offices and a five star hotel. The Park Lane Tower has reached the 20th level. The contractor, Al Rostamani Pegel LLC, is preparing to mock up works for common and public areas. The building was designed by Carlos Ott, who is also known for other landmark buildings including the National Bank of Dubai, the Simcoe Place in Canada, L'Opera de la Bastille in France and the Antel Telecommunications building in Uruguay. The building's location in Business Bay Phase One means residents and guests are able to enjoy views over Shaikh Zayed Road and the nearby lake. The hotel comprises 200 rooms, two pools, restaurants and separate spas for women and men. It will accompany the other 10 to 15 hotels that are currently under construction in Business Bay.</p><p>"It's iconic because it's the second property in Dubai where the hotel starts from the 20th floor. The Armani hotel in Burj Khalifa is the first," said Sanjeet Joher, the group chief executive officer for developer KM Properties. The offices are a mixture of boutiques and core offices. "People working in the offices in the tower can have visitors and customers stay in the hotel with access to five-star facilities. Especially with the traffic in the evening, people might prefer to have board meetings on site. It's a place where you can work, relax and live," said Joher. KM Properties earlier said it had entered into a strategic joint venture with international urban planning experts, Terry Farrell & Partners, in June. The joint venture will see Terry Farrell & Partners working on a number of real estate developments for KM Properties across the Middle East and worldwide.</p> http://www.bayut.com/news.php#710 #710 Friday, March 19, 2010 12:00:00 AM <p>UAE nationals will now be able to own industrial and commercial properties, granted by Dubai's government, with full freehold legal status and get title deeds registered through the Dubai Land Department. His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, in his capacity as Ruler of Dubai, on Monday issued a decree regulating ownership of industrial and commercial plots granted to UAE nationals. The decree allows every citizen who has been granted an industrial or commercial plot to apply to the Land and Properties Department to obtain a title deed with freehold status for the plot by registering it under his name. The decree also allows ownership of industrial or commercial land which previously changed hands but was not registered with the department. The move comes in line with the procedures to activate property and commercial sectors which are vital to Dubai's economy. As per the decree the UAE nationals will be able to freely own these properties and act on them legally. These lands were earlier restricted to some extent by government regulations.</p><p>The Dubai government had granted thousands of plots to UAE nationals for commercial use. Emirati owners will have to pay 30 per cent of the value of the property to the Land Department as an ownership transfer and registration fee. The 30 per cent value of the land will be determined by the department on the date of transfer of ownership. Analysts say the decree will help boost confidence among investors as it opens up industrial and commercial plots for investment. "Clearly, this has the potential to significantly change the real estate sector in the emirate," Blair Hugkull, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle Middle East, told Gulf News. For some time, Dubai's property sector remained too focused on residential property. This decree could change that. "The previous real estate laws have helped Dubai in attracting foreign capital. However, since the residential property market currently has enough supplies, the new decree will help investors shift focus to industrial and commercial properties — that will help job creation," he said.</p> http://www.bayut.com/news.php#709 #709 Tuesday, March 16, 2010 12:00:00 AM <p>Community service fees for homeowners in The Springs have been reduced for 2010. Dubai_Community service fees for homeowners in The Springs have been reduced for 2010, with the new rates Dh2.03/ft² of plot area, a reduction of almost 6.5 per cent compared to 2009. A spokesperson for Emaar Properties, the developer of the community, told in a statement, "Following a detailed review of the 2009 costs and projected expenses of 2010, we have been able to reduce the service fees for 2010 for The Springs community. This is due to various cost-cutting measures undertaken including renegotiations and re-tendering service providers' contracts to obtain best value, reallocation of resources on-site, efficiencies obtained by use of technology and energy saving programmes.</p><p>" According to Emaar's website, service fee budgets are proposed by a committee composed of the company's community management, facilities management, finance, insurance and corporate services teams. "Community service fee budgets are routinely reviewed and endorsed by owners committees, where established, and accounts finally reviewed by independent auditors," said the spokesperson. "Despite uncertainties in the market, Emaar Community Management (ECM) has striven to provide its valued owners and residents quality service to ensure the community retains its position as one of the most sought-after freehold communities in Dubai." The spokesperson said ECM has recently introduced the CSF Information Pack "as part of a new awareness programme within its communities to educate the owners on the various aspects of community living including how the CSF is budgeted and spent.</p><p>At the time the CSF Information Pack was printed, 17 per cent of property owners at The Springs had not yet paid their 2009 services fees while 4 per cent were yet to pay their 2008 fees. According to the CSF Information Pack, measures to deter late payment of service fees include "cessation of all non-emergency services" and a late payment fee, which is 2 per cent per month of the outstanding amount. Until fees are paid, ECM will not issue No Objections Certificates (NOC) to the given homeowner for transfer of property or visa renewal. It may also take legal action and refer the case to a debt collection agency.</p> http://www.bayut.com/news.php#708 #708 Monday, March 15, 2010 12:00:00 AM <p>A federal law soon to start taking shape will further ensure organization of the real-estate sector in the country, Minister of Justice Hadef Jua'an Al Daheri disclosed. "Instructions have been issued to prepare a federal draft law to organize ownership and registration of real estate across the country," Al Daheri told the Federal National Council (FNC) on Tuesday. At present, real estate is subject to local legislations in each emirate. Al Daheri was responding to a question from Amer Abdul Jalil, an FNC member from Abu Dhabi, concerning children of an Emirati woman married to a foreigner being denied the right to register their inherited real estate. The minister did not say whether the law will provide for other steps for women's rights in the UAE. Emirati women married to foreigners are now entitled to get government housing even if their children do not have UAE citizenship, according to draft legislation pertaining to the Zayed Housing Programme recently approved by the FNC. Women are denied the right to pass on citizenship to their husbands and children. But men can apply for citizenship for their foreign wives after five years of marriage.<p><p>While their children are citizens from birth. Children of Emirati mothers and foreign fathers have few privileges, like the legal right to residence, employment and government services such as free health and education. The FNC doesn't legislate, it just reviews draft legislation which comes from the ministries. So draft legislation is sent from the ministry to the FNC, then this draft legislation, depending on the subject of the legislation, is sent to the relevant parliamentary committee. The committee studies the draft, amends and introduces new clauses, and either recommends or rejects the draft law. The committee's proposal on the draft legislation is then presented in the FNC for it to debate and take a final decision. Najla Al Awadi, a member from Dubai, said women still have major hurdles, particularly in terms of reforming the mindset that an Emirati woman who marries a non-Emirati man forfeits her right as a citizen. "A mindset that applies a hypocritical, double standard, judging women so harshly and not applying any such judgement on an Emirati man who marries a non-Emirati woman, because by virtue of his gender he is above any such judgement," Najla said.</p> http://www.bayut.com/news.php#707 #707 Friday, March 12, 2010 12:00:00 AM <p>Property prices and transactions in the capital emirate are unlikely to increase significantly in the coming months, due to mortgage rate cuts announced recently by the government as well as by some of financial institutions and developers jointly, according to forecasts by Landmark Advisory, a property consultancy firm. The firm expects that delivery of new units will take place only at the end of the second quarter in Abu Dhabi, and the rate cuts announced were likely to jack up the demand for some of the properties which are nearing completion, Hesham Ikhwan, Branch Manager-Abu Dhabi, Landmark Properties, told Khaleej Times. “The limited transaction activity observed during the end of the fourth quarter of last year continues into January and February 2010, with existing demand continuing to focus on close-to-completion developments such as Marina Square, Al Reef Villas, Sky Tower and Al Bandar. “The market has reached a standstill due to the ongoing postponement of delivery dates, especially for projects like Al Bandar and Marina Square,” said Jesse Downs, Director of Research and Advisory Services, Landmark Advisory, in a Press statement on Tuesday. “This trend extends to Al Reef Villas, where the slow handover process is weakening investor confidence.” <p><p>Transactional prices in the capital have experienced only marginal declines of up to four per cent as demand levels decreased and sellers became increasingly competitive, the statement said. According to Landmark Advisory, majority of buyers in Abu Dhabi (up to 70-80 per cent) purchase property through finance. On the recent announcement that the government plans to reduce the cost of home loans in the capital, the statement said quoting Ikhwan: “Due to the recent rate reduction, projects financed by Abu Dhabi Finance (ADF) should start to see more demand. At present, ADF finances six out of the fourteen towers in Marina Square and we expect that these towers will receive the most interest.” With lower rates available and the initial completion of freehold supply, more buyers will be encouraged to purchase rather than lease,” added Ms Downs.” The market is currently at a standstill. While these changes are expected to stimulate demand, the improvement will be moderate in absolute terms. We do not expect the volume of transactions to increase significantly in the near future, even for close-to -completion developments. Buyers are now waiting for distressed sales, which are expected to materialize closer to handover, when the largest payment plan installment is due,” said Ms Downs.</p> http://www.bayut.com/news.php#705 #705 Wednesday, March 10, 2010 12:00:00 AM <p>More than 120 speakers from over 25 countries will take part in an open debate on the “real issues and challenges confronting the real estate investment industry” within the UAE and outside, during Cityscape Abu Dhabi, which will be held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from April 18 to 21, 2010 . “Given the dramatic changes that have impacted the global markets over the past year or more, we are planning a frank debate without restriction, presenting real estate professionals with a transparent platform to explore the real issues and challenges confronting the real estate investment industry,” said Chris Speller, Cityscape Group Director, in a statement on Sunday. “The conference will have 36 sessions across three concurrent streams over three days covering a myriad of topics including the impact of the financial crisis on the real estate market; how the GCC countries have confronted the crisis; the viability of real estate investment trusts in the Middle East; and the transparency and consistency of real estate data throughout the region,” he added. </p> http://www.bayut.com/news.php#704 #704 Tuesday, March 09, 2010 12:00:00 AM <p>Dubai's Land Department will soon announce a new regulatory framework for offshore companies investing in Dubai's freehold market. The move is aimed at improving transparency. The Land Department has halted, for a month, transactions of offshore companies due to lack of clarity. "There are currently guidelines that exist which offshore companies have to adhere to. A new set of regulations is currently awaiting approval and is due to be introduced by the end of the week. Most of the new regulations will be to monitor who the owner of the companies are, so whenever they want to sell they are able to inform the Land Department," Mohammad Sultan Thani, director-general of the Dubai Land Department, told Gulf News yesterday. An offshore company is a business that is incorporated outside the jurisdiction of its primary operations. The Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority in Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah Free Zone offer offshore licences in the UAE.</p><p>From the beginning of this month, offshore companies will be able to register with the Dubai Land Department but not as developers, according to Thani. "They can't be developers for now, until they have the mechanism to work as a developer locally instead of offshore. The reason being, if there is a court case against an offshore developer that is not physically available here and does not follow the local laws, then it is a lot harder to carry out a judgement against them," Thani told Gulf News. Industry experts see these new regulations as a welcome move. "Relationships between corporate entities and regulators need to be established. There needs to be an understanding of their obligations, issues and opportunities to clarify and strengthen their requirements for their companies to operate in Dubai and the UAE. It is very important in these turbulent times that there is clarity and understanding in respect to the way they do business.</p><p>Anything that the regulator can do to enhance this clarity will be well received," Blair Hagkull, managing director at Jones Lang Lasalle, told Gulf News. Throughout February, the registration of titles for freehold properties in the name of foreign offshore companies was suspended while the Land Department updated its system. The directive, effective February 1, instructed the transaction department not to register titles in the name of foreign offshore companies. It did not affect the ownership of properties registered in the name of foreign offshore firms that were registered before February 1.</p> http://www.bayut.com/news.php#702 #702 Monday, March 08, 2010 12:00:00 AM <p>Pearl Dubai, developers of the 20 million sq ft sustainable Dubai Pearl integrated destination overlooking the Palm Jumeirah, announced a tie-up with Singapore Sotheby’s International Realty to leverage its luxury real estate network of offices across Asia for promoting the upscale development to high net-worth individuals. Dubai Pearl will commence a road-show across key Asian hubs in collaboration with Singapore Sotheby’s International Realty. Expected to begin in March 2010, the road-show will aim to raise visibility for Dubai Pearl across the Sotheby’s International Realty network that spans 35 countries and access a far-reaching qualified client base. </p> http://www.bayut.com/news.php#703 #703 Monday, March 08, 2010 12:00:00 AM <p>Al Hanoo, a leading GCC real estate developer has announced the launch of Marsa Al Nejoum Real Estate LLC in the UAE. "We are proud to announce the establishment of our new development arm, Marsa Al Nejoum with the clear objective of being at the forefront of innovation in property development in UAE," Shaikh Abdullah Al Sakra, chairman of Al Hanoo said in a statement. The new development arm is set to unveil a host of waterfront villas in the Nujoom Islands on the shore of Sharjah. "The launch comes at a challenging time, and after deep market research has been undertaken to understand the key indicators and requirements that drive the real estate sector in Sharjah. "Our objective is to meet the demand in the market from end users. The UAE economy has time and again proved to be resilient. We have tremendous faith in the UAE's real estate sector; things are changing fast with new regulations coming in place due to timely initiatives by the UAE government. These initiatives will pave the way for building consumer confidence in the sector," said Shaikh Abdullah said. So far, the majority of infrastructure for the Nujoom Islands has been completed.</p> http://www.bayut.com/news.php#700 #700 Friday, March 05, 2010 12:00:00 AM <p>The pace of decline in UAE consumer prices eased a bit in the month of January, thanks to a spike in property rents, energy and medical bills, but inflation was kept in check in the Arab world’s second largest economy because of broadly stable food prices and lower transport and communication cost, official data showed on Thursday. The rate of consumer price growth, or inflation, has sharply declined across the board since its peak in 2008 as the global financial crisis and economic downturn crimped overall aggregate demand for goods and services, a situation termed as “deflation” by economists. Data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics showed the UAE’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), a broad measure of inflation, falling in January by a marginal 0.06 per cent in January from December when CPI had slipped 0.71 per wcent. On a year-on-year basis CPI showed a 0.32 per cent decline in January, after a decrease of 0.42 per cent in the same month of 2008. “We expect inflation to return to positive territory from the second quarter of 2010, although housing prices will remain weak and are likely to see further falls,” said Monica Malik, chief economist at EFG-Hermes.</p><p>“The main inflationary drivers would be external factors such as food prices,” she said. The data showed that deflationary pressure was concentrated in the UAE’s largest emirates, with CPI falling 0.07 per cent in Abu Dhabi and 0.05 per cent in Dubai in January. The index showed consumer prices gathering pace in all the other five emirates, with Ajman posting the highest rise of 2.76 per cent and Umm Al Quwain recording the lowest rise of 0.16 per cent. The bureau said that prices in the main household category, which accounts for 39 percent of the consumer inflation basket and includes rents and energy costs, rose 0.42 percent month-on-month in January due to increases in rents and fuel costs. Prices of furniture and household goods went up by 0.83 per cent, while the medical care bill was up by 0.54 per cent. Food prices rose by a feeble 0.05 percent in January from the previous month, and transport prices eased 0.09 per cent. Communication prices dipped 4.08 per cent in January, while prices in the restaurants, cafes, and hotel sectors came down by 0.18 per cent. The prices of recreational, cultural goods and services rose 0.22 per cent, prices of beverages and tobacco went up by 0.20 per cent, and food and soft drinks by 0.05 per cent, the Bureau said.</p> http://www.bayut.com/news.php#701 #701 Friday, March 05, 2010 12:00:00 AM