Dubai grows as depreciate rents attract migrants

DUBAI // The population of Dubai rose 7.5 per cent in the first quarter of the year as lower rents and living costs drew migrants from neighbouring emirates to the city.

Dubai property prices may fall by a further 15 per cent, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report last month. “Rents are cheaper and people are upgrading their lifestyle,” said Mishaal al Gergawi, an Emirati social commentator.

The emirate’s total population rose to 1,803,000 from 1,676,000 in the same period of last year, figures released yesterday by the Dubai Statistics Centre show.

Dubai’s transient population, or those commuting to the emirate for work, rose by more than 1 million people to 2.87 million, the statistics centre said.

Analysts believe lower rents and the availability of accommodation has fuelled the growth. House prices and rents have been cut in half since peaking in late 2008.

“This is a conservative figure. It could be much more.”

The shifting demographics were demonstrated in the numbers moving from Ajman to Sharjah, and in those moving from Sharjah to Deira. Deira resident were then moving to Bur Dubai and later settling on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road, Mr al Gergawi said.

The new data showed the so-called “active population” was boosted by labourers, white-collar workers and visitors coming to the emirate seeking work. It was unclear whether labourers or white-collar workers made up the biggest chunk of the 1 million rise in the transient population.

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Donald Trump gets OK for world's greatest golf course

Celebrity real estate developer and avid golfer Donald Trump has been given the go-ahead to build what he says will be "the world's greatest golf course" in Scotland as part of a US$1.5 billion development.

Despite some local opposition to the project, Aberdeenshire Council has granted the American tycoon, host of the popular reality TV show "The Apprentice", full planning permission to build the championship links in the north-east of the country.

"My team will (now) finally get to work and build the world's greatest golf course for Scotland and for the great game of golf," Trump, 64, said in a statement.

"We are building on the finest piece of land I have ever seen and we will turn it into a national jewel," added Trump who owns several championship courses around the world.

His organisation said that more than 40 million pounds ($60.19 million) had already been invested in the Scottish project during four years of development.

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Dubai rental index being refresh

The Land Department of Dubai is working on revamping the rental index, making it more comprehensive, Emirates Business can reveal.

As of Monday, the rent increase calculator on the Real Estate Regulatory Agency’s (Rera) website was not showing the requisite calculations from July 1 onwards with an alert saying, “no rental index available for the selected date”.

The first rent index in Dubai was released in January 2009, complied on the basis of rents during the second half of 2008.

Rera says it is not mandatory for landlords to follow the rent index but it is just a guideline or a reference point in case of disputes.

Acticle here: business24-7

Dubai and Abu Dhabi now more affordable for expats

The declining rents in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have made the cities relatively affordable ones for expatriates compared to others around the globe, the latest Mercer Cost of Living Survey has found.

While Dubai ranks 55 on the list of most expensive cities, Abu Dhabi is only slightly more expensive with a rank of 50, which it shares with Frankfurt in Germany, the survey said.

It also threw up a few surprises: displacing Tokyo from its traditional spot at the top of the list, Luanda, Angola's capital, has emerged as the world's most expensive city for expatriates. Tokyo came in second, while, in another surprise, another African city completed the top three – Chad's capital ?Ndjamena. Moscow was in fourth position followed by Geneva in fifth.

The rear was brought up by Karachi, which the survey found to be the least expensive city for expatriates to live in.

The Mercer survey covered 214 cities across five continents and measured the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

"While across the UAE, the cost of living has remained relatively stable, we are seeing that accommodation costs have continued to decrease in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, driving down the overall cost of living for expats," said Dr Markus Wiesner, who heads Mercer's Dubai office.

He said Mercer increased the number of cities surveyed this year from 143 to 214, which means that the cities cannot be compared with their previous rankings.

For the first time, the ranking of the world's top 10 most expensive cities includes three African urban centres: apart from Luanda and Ndjamena, Libreville in Gabon comes in at seventh place.

The top 10 also includes three Asian cities: besides Tokyo in second place, Osaka at six and Hong Kong jointly ranked eighth. Moscow, Geneva and Zurich, which shares the eighth spot with Hong Kong, are the most expensive European cities, followed by Copenhagen at 10.

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Residential property market in dubai sees first annual real estate price rise

‘Despite the stability that the market appears to have achieved, a number of concerns remain. There will be significant oversupply in the market by the end of the year so it is anticipated the index will experience fluctuations in value going forward,’ said Ian Albert, regional director at Colliers International.

‘What will be important to watch is how much of that supply matches the end user demand for community oriented developments,’ he added.
Average residential property prices in Dubai rose by 2% in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period last year, according to the latest house price index to be published. Prices have now risen 4% since the last quarter of 2009 creating confidence that the downturn which resulted in price falls of 50% in some locations is now at an end. It is also the first annual increases since the emirate’s property market collapsed towards the end of 2008.

The average house price in the first quarter of the year was AED1,061 ($288.85) per square foot, compared to AED 1,022 ($278.23) in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the report from Colliers International.

Apartment prices in the emirate rose 6% in the first quarter compared with the previous three months and villa prices increased 2% while townhouses were down 4%, the house price index showed.

Prices have now returned to 2007 levels, but the report warns that a large number of new units due for release could have a negative impact on the real estate market and even bring prices down again.

The report estimates that 41,000 residential units will flood onto the market in 2010 mostly in the low to middle income segments and demand is not expected to match the growth in supply, creating downward pressure on property prices.


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