Number Of Floors UC in Dubai ! [Archive]

Dubai_Boy

July 4th, 2004, 11:43 AM

UAE real estate sector set to grow to $50 billion by 2010

Mohammed Raheef Hakmi, chief executive of Omran Global, a foreign businessman and investor, pointed out that real estate and property development in Dubai and UAE is considered to be one of the fastest growing sectors in the entire region as new projects come out almost everyday.

According to UAE national investor, Sulaiman Al Faheem who is also the chief executive officer of Dubai Projects, "The growing interest among foreigners to buy freehold property in Dubai, has also led to a burst in growth of home finance firms. Real estate financing will exceed $15 billion by the end of this decade.''

Dubai's economy grew by an annual average of 8.6 per cent in the last eight years, according to a study by Shuaa Capital. It is also predicted that Dubai will maintain the same growth rate for the next five years. The growth in real estate sector has helped in reinforcing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and studies continue to forecast that the real estate sector will keep playing a critical role in boosting the economy over the next five years.

Higher revenues from the petroleum sector, on the other hand, ensure that government spending on site projects, infrastructure and aviation, will continue side by side with projects like Dubai international Financial Centre and Dubai Healthcare City, stated the Omran Globalchief executive officer. The private sector investors have supported the government's efforts and both together have taken the real estate sector to a whole new dimension of growth and development, which is growing rapidly to met the increase in the UAE's population, as more and more people come in attracted by the boom conditions, said Dr Hakmi.

According to Dubai Municipality and the Ministry of Planning's statistics, expatriates have saved up to 12 per cent more than the average in the emirate since1998 and they have also spent 8 per cent more on the residency expenditures when compared to the average expenditure. Due to the increase of savings and expenditure on residency, expatriates are becoming an attraction by the market of real estate in Dubai.

20,000 Emaar residential units under construction

A few hundred towers are in various stages of development, including those at Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai Pearl, Dubai Internet City and at various locations on both sides of Sheikh Zayed Road between the Trade Centre roundabout and Jebel Ali, said Robert Booth, Emaar's executive director for development, in an interview with Gulf News.

Emaar is likely to award contracts for all major components of its Dh9 billion Burj Dubai development before the end of this year, which include Burj Dubai - the world's tallest tower, and Dubai Mall, billed as the world's largest shopping mall and associated development that comprise the Downtown, the report said.

According to previous estimates, Burj Dubai is expected to cost Dh3.9 billion and the construction of Dubai Mall is expected to cost Dh2.6 billion.

Tenders for both projects are in different stages, and contracts will awarded later this year, Booth said.

A number of local and international contractors are believed to be vying for the prestigious Burj Dubai tower whose height has not been finalised yet, considering the other towers that have either been under construction or are being announced.

Many international firms have tied up with local partners to bid in groups. Tenders are due for submission in the first week of July.

Among the construction groups included in the tender process are Al Habtoor-Murray and Roberts-WCT-Takenaka; Dutco Balfour Beatty-Paul Y ITC Construction Holdings-Al Ghandi - Consolidated Construction Co.; Al Naboodah-Laing O'Rourke-Hip Hing; Besix-Samsung Construction-Arabtec and Grocon-Al Hamid-DCE.

The contracts are expected to be awarded in August and September.

Construction of the six towers that make up the Burj Residences, meanwhile, are continuing in full swing.

The overall Burj Dubai development will also include a business park, a 70-acre urban park, 3.5 km boulevard, a large lake, hotels old town residences, cafe, restaurants, walkways and other residential and retail components, giving it a perfect downtown feel

5,000 freehold properties built in Dubai

In 2002, for Dubai municipal area as a whole, licences were issued for new residential buildings with a built-up area of 38 million sq ft, up from 28 million sq ft in 2001.

The new buildings range from studio apartments worth Dh250,000 to luxury villas priced at several millions US dollars," said a Khaleej Times report quoting an economic survey conducted by HSBC.

The report said from 2002, foreigners have been permitted to buy freehold property in a number of designated projects, mainly in newly developed areas of Dubai near Jebel Ali Free Zone and Dubai Internet City. Outside these areas, land and property ownership remains restricted to UAE citizens, according to the report.

A new land law is currently being drafted in Dubai and is expected to be completed before the end of the current year.

There is a huge demand for freehold properties specially from Asian expats, Arabs immigrants in the United States and UK who have flown back to their country or to the oil-exporting countries, but the only barrier is the residential visa, the report quoted sources as saying.