Dubai Property Blog

This autumn the Dubai real estate market has absorbed two massive apartment projects - the shoreline apartments on The Palm Jumeriah and the Jumeirah Beach Residence - a total of more than 7,500 units. Both offer an excellent beach location but service charge differentials have become important.

A new report from Better Homes points to a huge appreciation in values for several Dubai International Financial Centre buildings in the past three months, and notes that since the start of 2007 land prices in Business Bay have increased by almost 40 per cent.

AME Info today joined a party of journalists visiting the Australian continent on The World, an artificial archipelago of islands shaped like a map of the world, four kilometers off Dubai, now nearing completion. Host Oqyana expect to start selling units next autumn.

This is a question that tenants and potential home buyers are asking all the time. But with talk about the rent cap not being renewed for 2008 and an explosion of investment banking growth in Dubai, combined with inflationary local salary rises, it is a matter of how much, and not whether rents and prices rise.

There is a growing national consensus that the UAE dirham is 20-30 per cent undervalued against the US dollar, and that the time for a revaluation is approaching, even if the dollar-peg itself stays in place for GCC currencies as Saudi Arabia wants. But what impact would say a 10-15 per cent revaluation have on Dubai property?

The global economic outlook for 2008 is darkening with the ongoing US sub-prime lending crisis and the credit crunch. For Dubai real estate the balance is between lower interest rates increasing the affordability of local property versus a business slowdown and an increasing supply of real estate.

Fears that an imminent oversupply of real estate in Dubai would depress the sector in 2008 have now been pushed back by most observers to 2010, due to construction capacity constraints and the continued tide of new immigration. Indeed, the main concern is that local inflationary pressures are going to drive rents and prices higher.

Nakheel, one of the world’s largest privately-held property developers, has announced the enormous success of the first day of public sales for Al Furjan, a family-oriented residential community, located in the heart of new Dubai.

More than 500 of the available homes were sold in just one day, adding to the overwhelming success of last week’s exclusive ‘women only’ joint sales initiative with Johara, the female banking division of Dubai Islamic Bank. Phase 1 of Al Furjan is now completely sold out with more than 800 homes snapped up by customers.

Al Furjan, meaning ‘a collection of houses or a small village’, is comprised of four communities which will be defined by their individual neighborhood centre. These neighborhood centres and other amenities, such as schools, are situated within easy walking distance of homes.

Mohammed Rashed Bin Dhabeah, Director, Al Furjan, said: ‘We have been delighted by the success of the first day of public sales, which follows the overwhelming success of the ‘women only’ launch held last week. It’s an incredible achievement to think that we have sold more than 800 homes in such a short time.

‘The success of this launch is a ringing endorsement of Al Furjan - and is reflective of all of the hard work the team has put into the masterplan. Seeking advice from families, we found that people wanted a walkable, pedestrian friendly neighborhood that provided easy access to community amenities. We believe we have created a truly distinctive community for Dubai and it’s no surprise the development has proved so popular.’

Boasting more than 4,000 elegant homes complemented by an abundance of open spaces and a multitude of amenities, Al Furjan is a new model for community living. The development is designed for the family with open spaces integrated into the master plan to provide areas for children to play and families to interact.

Feel free to contact us for any further information on this project.

Dar Al Arkan, DIFC sukuk
The Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Company has listed a $600m sukuk on the Dubai International Financial Centre. The sukuk is the first from a Saudi issuer to list on the DIFX and takes the total number of sukuks listed to six, with a total value of $9bn. The sukuk is solely listed on the DIFX and was sold to investors in Europe, South East Asia and the Middle East.

Strong sales in Kuwait
A report by the National Bank of Kuwait has revealed 1,140 property sales transactions, worth $1.1bn, were recorded in April, a 7% lift on the previous month and 85% up on the same month in 2006, reported the KUNA. The residential and commercial sectors saw growth of 31% and 33% respectively. In the first four months of the year, there were 70% more sales than during the same period last year.