Long term rental rates from Gulf News

Divide prices by 7 to get approx price in £ per year.

The burgeoning property boom in Dubai looks set to continue until at least 2010, a report released on Sunday said, dismissing widespread forecasts of a looming correction in property prices.

The report by Dubai-based businessman Fouad Bardawil, for the Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), estimated that 181 000 new residential units would be needed by 2010 but that only 175 000 would be available.

MEED said demand would outstrip supply because of continuing population growth in the wealthy emirate, one of seven comprising the United Arab Emirates.

It said Dubai's population could rise to 2.5 million by 2010 from 1.4 million in 2006 due to expansion in the business sector.

A falling occupancy rate was also a factor behind the demand for more housing, MEED said, predicting that the average number of residents per unit by 2010 would be 5.5, down from 6 in 2000.

7 STAR HOTEL for Dubai Marina

Van Oord has been awarded the redesigning of Dubai Promenade in Dubai. The total contract value amounts to EUR 14 million. The client is Nakheel. The execution has already started. The project is scheduled for completion in February 2008.

The project consists of the removal of two existing breakwaters and construction of two new breakwaters, construction of an underwater reef and beach reclamation for the development of a new 7-star hotel. In total some 750,000 tons of rock will be placed and 650,000 m3 of sand will be reclaimed. Van Oord will deploy a trailing suction hopper dredger, a cutter suction dredger and a grab dredger.

800 new residents setting up home in Dubai every day

By Saifur Rahman, Business News Editor Published: July 20, 2007, 00:12

Dubai: House rents in Dubai, the single largest worry among the majority of the emirate's 1.3 million residents, will continue to appreciate in the coming years due to the influx of a whopping 292,000 new entrants - employees and residents every year, officials said yesterday. Although the market showed signs of softening in recent past, the issuance of more than 800 work and residence visas per day will continue to push the demand upwards, they say. At this rate, the population of Dubai is to grow at 22.46 per cent, doubling in about four years. The 44,000 new housing supplies in the UAE this year would be inadequate compared to the requirements. While this might be a good news for investors, developers and landlords, it may not go down well with tenants who are struggling to make both ends meet, making life in Dubai dearer. Dubai: House rents in Dubai, the single largest worry among the majority of the emirate's 1.3 million residents, will continue to appreciate in the coming years due to the influx of a whopping 292,000 new entrants - employees and residents every year, officials said yesterday. Although the market showed signs of softening in recent past, the issuance of more than 800 work and residence visas per day will continue to push the demand upwards, they say. At this rate, the population of Dubai is to grow at 22.46 per cent, doubling in about four years. The 44,000 new housing supplies in the UAE this year would be inadequate compared to the requirements. While this might be a good news for investors, developers and landlords, it may not go down well with tenants who are struggling to make both ends meet, making life in Dubai dearer.

Burj Dubai prices climb

  

The cost of buying into the Burj Dubai has increased by almost 25% in the past couple of months, with prices likely to go higher, Coldwell Banker CEO Hisham El Far told Emirates Today. Residential space in the world's tallest tower is selling for Dhs4,000-6,000 per sqft, while commercial space is fetching Dhs5,000-8,000 per sqft. Another source said prices were increasing as more floors were added. The tower will have a mix of residences, corporate suites and the Armani Hotel & Residences.

Demand for residential units 'to outstrip supply'
By Robert Ditcham, Staff Reporter
Published: August 06, 2007, 23:03


Dubai: Demand for residential units in Dubai is expected to outstrip supply until at least the turn of the decade, making chances of a price correction appear slim, according to a new report.

Supply of residential properties will total approximately 175,000 new units by 2010. But an estimated 181,000 units will be required by the end of the decade - an undersupply of 6,000 units, according to the MEED Dubai Real Estate Report 2007.

In total, the value of projects either planned or under way in Dubai will hit $310 billion over the next decade.

Of this, close to $230 billion, equivalent to almost three-quarters of the total, is planned in the property sector, the report stated.

Angus Hindley, research editor at MEED, said the report shows that the property industry will prevail as the main factor fuelling Dubai's booming economy until at least 2010.


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"Real estate has played and will continue to play a vital role in Dubai's growth. It is a lynchpin for the emirate's economy, fuelling the construction boom and attracting billions of dollars to Dubai," he said.

Uppward momentum

The other main findings show that construction has grown at an average of 32.7 per cent a year since 2001 and in 2006 accounted for 12.7 per cent of total GDP, up from 7.2 per cent in 2001.

Averaging at 17.9 per cent since 2001, the economy of Dubai has been one of the best performing in the Gulf over the past five years, largely due to property development.

Real estate and business services have recorded average growth of 25 per cent a year, driven in large part by government-empowered developers, such as Emaar Properties, Dubai Properties and Nakheel, and landmark projects like Downtown Dubai, Business Bay and the Palm Islands trilogy, said Hindley.

Numerous real estate analysts contacted by Gulf News agreed that a major price correction in the residential sales market before the turn of the decade looks unlikely.

Many said they expect the market to maintain its upward momentum, but returns on investment to shrink slightly as increased supply puts pressure on sellers to set "more realistic" prices, especially in the mid-market residential sector.

Forecast

"There is still plenty of life left in the market - plenty of room for investors to make some good profits, although maybe not the kind of profits that were made two or three years ago," said Craig Johnson, general manager of Dubai-based Landmark Properties.

A correction will be more likely to occur in the rental market, analysts say.

Second quarter 2007 figures provided by UAE real estate services company Asteco showed that rental rates for apartments in Dubai increased just two per cent on average, compared to 12 per cent for villas.

In the commercial sector, Asteco said office rents should remain high through 2007 and 2008 due to delays in bringing supply onto the market.

2009 could be the turning point for rents, said Asteco's managing director Andrew Chambers.

Some 50 million square feet of commercial space will be available in Dubai by 2010, 28.5 per cent of which will be in Business Bay, according to Asteco's report.

Theme parks to be big attraction
By Robert Ditcham, Staff Reporter
Published: August 07, 2007, 23:05


Dubai: More than Dh20 billion will be spent on turning Dubai into the site of some of the world's most prestigious theme parks.

Dubai's ambitious target of 15 million tourists by 2010 has seen local companies attract the biggest names in the global entertainment business, such as US film studios Universal and Paramount Pictures.

If current projects are realised, Dubai will become the location for rides and attractions based on hits such as Titanic and Mission Impossible, turning the emirate into more than just a haven for golden beaches and luxury hotels.

Guy Wilkinson, partner at Dubai-based hotel consultancy Gloster Management Consultants, said the projects will play a major role in meeting Dubai's ambitious tourist targets up to and beyond 2010.


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He said their main impact will be to add permanent variety to holidays in Dubai, thereby increasing the average length of stay, which currently stands at less than a week, and increasing the rate of repeat visits.

Average stay

"These projects are very important to Dubai's future. The emirate has 160 confirmed hotel projects and just one day added to the average length of stay will have a significant impact on their business," said Wilkinson.

He added that linking well-known names such as Universal and Paramount to Dubai's attractions will be a huge pull for Middle Eastern families who mostly travel to the US or Europe for amusement park holidays.

Paramount Pictures recently allowed real estate company Ruwaad Holdings to build a theme park in its name.

It will be the hub of a Dh9.2 billion mixed-use development expected to feature hotels, resorts and shopping centres. A location within the UAE was not identified yet at the June announcement.

The project will face competition from its Hollywood-based rival, Universal Studios, which will help set up a Dh8 billion Universal City Dubailand.

Universal Studios will provide technical support to the development while Tatweer, part of Dubai Holding, the Dubai government's investment arm will invest a further Dh8 billion, the two firms said.

The 6.5 million square foot project will be among the world's largest theme parks and will attract more than three million tourists to Dubai by 2010, officials said.

The project will also include hotels, retail outlets, offices and residential compounds.

Content creation

Meanwhile, UAE-based Al Ahli Group said it has partnered with American kids TV network Nickelodeon to co-develop its Dh3.67 billion ($1 billion) Dubai amusement park and also create content for its foray into local movie and TV entertainment.

Al Ahli, which owns businesses in industrial manufacturing, real estate development and publishing, said the amusement park is scheduled to open in 2011, but did not reveal its location.

In March, the company signed a similar licensing deal with Marvel Entertainment, the owners of the Spiderman and Batman comic book hero franchises.

As well as attracting big names from overseas, Dubai is also creating its own amusement park themes.