Property & Investment in Dubai: Your questions about the market

[mc]

Originally Posted by Dubai_Steve

mc, your logic does not apply to Dubai property. Prices are still rising steadily with no sign of a crash because rental yields are still 10%+ (and some say they are rising) so its better to buy now in the correct part of the property cycle not later. Only when rental yields fall below 6% do you need to worry about the market prices slowing. Only if yields go below 4% then a price correct is in store before the next cycle. Also it is cheaper to buy on a mortgage then sell in 10 years for 3 to 4 times the original price (tax free if handled correctly)

There is no need to live in your apartment - just rent it for a nice profit (After paying the mortgage) ie. get your tennant to pay your morgage for you and enjoy a profit also. If you get an apartment suitable for holiday rentals (eg. very near to the beach) you can expect to make a very big profit which you can use to pay off the mortgage early.

Tamweel.ae will give you a mortgage online in a few days (if over 21) on many off plan properties in Dubai for up to 25 years. Payments dont start until completion where upon you can rent it out to pay the mortgage. If you buy off plan you can also expect a 30-40% rise in price when finally constructed.

The other benefit of buying in Dubai is that it is so easy. Just sign a contract - no solicitors needed and no purchasing costs or taxes (apart from your 20% deposit)

You also need to remember that Dubai is slightly different to other markets because of its fast drive to success. With so many huge developments and investment going on (eg. DubaiLand, Palm projects, waterfront etc.) and a huge tourism drive there will always be interest and excitment in Dubai which also keeps prices up. It has only just started.

Dubai_Steve,

I thank you for your coments which are in line and full accordance with the macroeconomical angle and your knowledge as it relates specifically to Dubai's markets and economy.

In your coment you mentioned an healthy 10%+ and maybe higher yield...that I didn't know was even there - and that's just amazing. That in itself is a strong enough figure to throw anybody's rebutal out of the wndw including mine.

However, eventhough I am not in any way disputing the validity of your argument - that's already established, I wanted to simply add that judging from a global real estate market prospective and the everyday talk abt global economy and global mkts (which is why I included Dubai n my prvs comment) like....US, France, Spain, Britain, New Zealand, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium - the house prices in these countries are at record levels in relation to rents - and that's where Dubai real estate mkt separates itself and does not conform with the rest of the crowd. (yields are at record lows in these countries versus Dubai's highs).

It's definitely interesting how Dubai has managed to separate itself and keep such healthy numbers. You are right when saying that Dubai's mkt is different. The figures are just striking.

mc

[DarkBlueBoss]

[juiced]

The foolish man built his house upon the sand, and the houses on the palm are built on ?

[DarkBlueBoss]

this is the only way all this would make sense

[Dubai_Steve]

Some houses built on sand:



Some investors making it happen:

[DarkBlueBoss]

nice pic

[candace]

Hi my name is Candace, I am new here, i have tried a few dubai 4rums without learning much.
I have been offered a job with etihad in AUH. i have been offered accomodation or an allowance. I am thinking of taking the allowance and purchasing an apartment. I am not sure how the market is in AUH. Is it possible to live in Dubai and commute to AUH? I would not have to travel every day. i like this forum there is a lot of good stuff here.
Candy

[Dubai_Steve]

Speaking before industry leaders at the MEED (Middle East Economic Digest) conference 'Major Project Development in Dubai' Jagersbacher said: 'It is not difficult to find the rationale for the wealth of hotel-related projects in Dubai. With currently more than 105 airlines providing direct links from Dubai to 160 destinations worldwide, and Emirates Airlines' advance order of $15 billion of new aircraft, Dubai's International Airport anticipates more than 60 million passengers by 2010. These extraordinary forecasts speak volumes of the tremendous growth this city is yet to experience'.

The latest region-wide industry survey undertaken by TRI Hospitality Consulting revealed over 9,628 rooms will become available by 2008, with more than 300 hotel expansion plans confirmed between 65 hotels on the Jumeirah and Jebel Ali Palm islands, 12 on Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Barsha, as well as seven hotel and resort developments on the emirate's now world famous Jumeirah coastline

[DarkBlueBoss]

Originally Posted by candace

Hi my name is Candace, I am new here, i have tried a few dubai 4rums without learning much.
I have been offered a job with etihad in AUH. i have been offered accomodation or an allowance. I am thinking of taking the allowance and purchasing an apartment. I am not sure how the market is in AUH. Is it possible to live in Dubai and commute to AUH? I would not have to travel every day. i like this forum there is a lot of good stuff here.
Candy

well u have to know, that from the Marina, to Abu Dhabi, its about an hours drive, and its not a fun drive,
second of all, the cheapest apt you can buy is probably a studio in international City , which is around 300,000 (please anyone correct me if i am wrong), so depending on ur job, ur allowance, and your willingness to drive back and forth (1 hour each drive) not including Abu Dhabi traffic ,
so good luck my friend

[Krazy]

New online system for property management

DUBAI Municipality has developed a new online system called DM Property and Lease Management System (Ta'jeer) using Oracle Property Manager.

Announcing the project, Engineer Abdullah Al Shaibani, assistant director general for technical services affairs, said launching of the project comes as a step by the civic body towards enhancing the services that are much sought after by the customers and the systems that need to be updated.

He said the new system will be integrated with other online systems of the municipality, which strives to become a model for e-governance.

Shaibani said during its first phase the project will be implemented for the administrative section of the markets department.

The next phase will be rolling out the system for other departments who are involved in the property and lease management business, he said.

AbdulRahman Al Jaziri, director of the markets department, said his department will be the first beneficiary of the project, which will serve different departments, sections and units of Dubai Municipality.

"With the introduction of this system we will have more opportunities to deal with investors. It helps people to find out about the availability of sites and shops owned by the Municipality. The system will also help them find out the fines and records," said Jaziri.

The administrative section of the markets department is responsible for contracting and leasing the properties, which includes, markets, cafeterias and shops in parks, and other Dubai Municipality buildings.

Its major role is to execute the DM property rent committee decisions, follow-up the lease/tenancy contract, coordinate and follow-up any issues related to lease/tenancy contract, tenant and leasehold/title with other departments, like the legal affairs department, general maintenance department and contracts and purchasing department.

Engineer AbdulHakim Malik, director of the information technology department, said the project will implement Oracle Property Management as a web-based, fully integrated suite of software to provide enterprise-wide management, decision making and reporting system.

He said the online customers will be able to inquire about the leasing of municipality properties that are offered for rent or municipality lands that are open for investment.

"The system will provide online customers with maps and detailed drawings of the municipality properties. They can also submit online applications and pay the required fees online as well as follow it up during its different stages," said Malik.

He said the system is also linked with other concerned internal online systems such as the GRP system, fine system and document management system.

Malik said implementation of the first phase of the project is expected to be completed by mid-July.

The new system will reduce the time for issuing and renewing lease/tenancy contracts; offer complete visibility of information regarding vacant, rented and full leasehold/title; help tracking and monitoring the rent and contract payments and ensure seamless flow of information to DM rent committee.

It will also be help the customers in tracking of expired lease and tenancy contracts, provide information concerning tenants' fines and penalties.

[juiced]

Originally Posted by candace

Hi my name is Candace, I am new here, i have tried a few dubai 4rums without learning much.
I have been offered a job with etihad in AUH. i have been offered accomodation or an allowance. I am thinking of taking the allowance and purchasing an apartment. I am not sure how the market is in AUH. Is it possible to live in Dubai and commute to AUH? I would not have to travel every day. i like this forum there is a lot of good stuff here.
Candy

I know some people that live in Dubai and work in AUD its not as hard as it sounds, but you would probably want to buy in Dubai Marina or Jumeirah Lake Towers

[Krazy]

Emaar completes project

Dubai: Emaar Properties, the region's largest property developer, has completed the deployment of Oracle E-Business Suite to fully integrate and streamline the company's back-to-front-office business processes.

The project enhances operational efficiencies and financial reporting, and increases the quality of customer service.

The Oracle E-Business Suite of business applications links Emaar's financial systems, property management, project development, and customer relationship management (CRM) functions for enhanced customer service.

Sahm Technologies, the Information Technology subsidiary of Emaar Properties, has managed the complex project implementation for completion on time and on budget.

[Krazy]

Dubai property booms on steady inflow from regional investors

Talking to Dubai watchers there is always a question they ask, especially of weathered residents of the country like myself, about how the property boom is being funded.

This in a sense takes on the from discussion I raised last week about the future of this boom.

In the first place we notice that the total bank borrowing in the banking system in 2004, as an example, went up by around $3.5 billion (Dh12.88 billion) in net terms. Further it is unlikely that this increased borrowing went into real estate funding, as various other sectors of the economy, which traditionally have used the banking system, absorbed the additional lending by the banks.

For the sceptics the question then becomes even more apparent as to where the additional money has flowed into the Dubai property market, and hence its boom.

Some of the largest cash inflows are coming from regional investors who have deployed their wealth into Dubai. As an example, it is estimated that Saudi investors brought in over $7.5 billion (Dh27.6 billion) into Dubai into various investments, with over 90 per cent going into real estate. This is a flow that continues and is coming from investors who have been traditionally used to the idea of long term holdings in real estate assets.

In addition to the Saudi investors, there is a steady inflow from investors from Kuwait and Qatar, and one can see a number of projects within Dubai have been taken up by investors from those countries.

The interesting element is that many property experts often talk of the inventory of apartments and villas that are in the hands of investors, and some have led to the conclusion that these investors will be the first to panic in the event of a slowdown.

This is where I disagree with the pundits on the grounds that the profile of these large inventory holders is such that they would easily and traditionally be apt to look at the investment as a long term vision. Indeed, there is a chance that the panic would come from the speculators, who on the submission of a small deposit on a property are hoping to flip it to an end user for a profit.

Such "scalpers" are large in numbers, but in terms of the firepower they command they have minimal cash effect on the market, though admittedly they do provide an interesting conduit to the end-users.

My guess is that the long-term investors are waiting for these people to panic, and they are the ones who would be squeezed out of the equation. Interestingly the life of these people is getting more difficult with new developers insisting on resale provisions that tighten the market for these speculators.

My guess remains that investment capital is large and will continue to seek a home in Dubai. A total estimate of property investment into Dubai last year (including commitments) exceeds well over $11 billion (Dh40.48 billion), and this is without counting the end-user. The entry into the personal mortgage market by major banks also indicates that the end-users, especially those resident within Dubai, are emerging as strong buyers.

In addition, of the 230,000 annual estimated increase of the population in the country, a large percentage is coming into Dubai. Given a base figure increase of around 120,000 additional residents in Dubai a year and an average family size of three people, around 40,000 units will be required per year for this new influx.

Excess demand

Let us assume that 75 per cent of these new residents will go for sharing abodes, that will mean 30,000 additional units need to be created for the new residents.

Judging by the manner in which the rental levels have been exceptionally robust, one can assume that there is demand excess for which the supply is just not there. It is likely that currently the shortage of residential units is such that most of the units under construction will be easily absorbed.

My estimate would be that given the current construction schedule and, indeed, delays in some construction projects, the current 75,700 units under construction will be absorbed by the time they come to the market.

I agree that some may point out to the occupancy of the completed units in the last year was around 33 per cent and goes against my theory. I ascribe this to an element of rental pricing for those units and the affordable level of sustainable rents.

New landlords have entered the market at a price point which makes them pricey and could be one reason for the vacancy.

Further, the test of the theory will be when the first units bought by residents are ready and the fact that these residents will move into their own properties, we will see a balance between demand and supply developing.

Overall, I feel that the issue is always of demand and supply, and this is where the current market conditions are settling in. Given large inflows from strategic investors I am certain that there will be no issues for the moment.

[candace]

Thanks for the info boys
Candy

[DUBAI]

Originally Posted by candace

Hi my name is Candace, I am new here, i have tried a few dubai 4rums without learning much.
I have been offered a job with etihad in AUH. i have been offered accomodation or an allowance. I am thinking of taking the allowance and purchasing an apartment. I am not sure how the market is in AUH. Is it possible to live in Dubai and commute to AUH? I would not have to travel every day. i like this forum there is a lot of good stuff here.
Candy

well first of all try to get a job with emirates insted of ethihad!

seccondly, failing that, live in dubai! you will have loads more fun, from what i hear quite a few ethihad staff are getting fed up with abu dhabi!

[candace]

Originally Posted by DUBAI

well first of all try to get a job with emirates insted of ethihad!

seccondly, failing that, live in dubai! you will have loads more fun, from what i hear quite a few ethihad staff are getting fed up with abu dhabi!

Thanks for the advice, I have heard that Abu Dhabi is less liberal then Dubai...can i wear my short skirts and crop tops in Abu Dhabi ??

[DarkBlueBoss]

you can, but expect alot of people to stare and maybe u might hear a few comments now and then that u might not like, but , very rare in dubai for that to happen, if not to happen at all,

[Krazy]

depends on which area ur in Abu Dhabi, it's not as bad as DarkBlue makes it sound I assure you.

[juiced]

Originally Posted by candace

Hi my name is Candace, I am new here, i have tried a few dubai 4rums without learning much.
I have been offered a job with etihad in AUH. i have been offered accomodation or an allowance. I am thinking of taking the allowance and purchasing an apartment. I am not sure how the market is in AUH. Is it possible to live in Dubai and commute to AUH? I would not have to travel every day. i like this forum there is a lot of good stuff here.
Candy

If you are a trolley dolly you will probably want to live in Dubai anyway, there is no nightlife in AUH !

[juiced]

Originally Posted by DarkBlueBoss

you can, but expect alot of people to stare and maybe u might hear a few comments now and then that u might not like, but , very rare in dubai for that to happen, if not to happen at all,

Very very true (don't listen to Krazy, he is exactly what his username suggests ) and in Dubai you can go topless and no one will really care.