IQI Dubai Weekly Recap 28th Oct – 3rd Nov 2017

Aggressive Pricing Shakes up the Market

A steady trickle of aggressively priced inventory in the affordable category has brought in fears of oversupply in Dubai’s lower-end residential segment, reports say. Lower-priced inventory continues to enter in locations such as Dubailand for villas and Dubai South, Jumeirah Village Circle and Al Furjan for apartments, according to a third-quarter report by property consultancy Cavendish Maxwell, impacting price dynamics for existing developments.

There is a concentration of activity in the affordable segment with the Dubai Land Department (DLD) reporting that the value of mortgage transactions in property increased to Dh60 million in the first six months from Dh48 million over the same period last year.

Source: Gulf News

Dubai’s hotel serviced apartments are now hot picks

For the yield chasing wealthy investor Dubai’s hotel serviced apartments are still the place to be in. In recent months, the premium that a serviced apartment can command over a standard ready unit in key locations has widened, and in some cases quite significantly so.

In Dubai Marina and the Downtown, the premium is at the 50 per cent mark now, while those serviced apartments at the Palm fetch 38 per cent more than others in the neighbourhood, according to data from the consultancy GCP-Reidin.

These price differentials are also showing up in the off-plan launches. “This year has already witnessed several launches in the serviced unit space, with the Address Harbor Point having the highest launch price of Dh2,300-Dh2,400 per square foot,” said Sameer Lakhani, Managing Director at Global Capital Partners. “But there have been multiple launches at even higher price points earlier, at the launch of Dukes Oceana, the Palm Tower, The One, and Opera Grand.”

Source: Gulf News

Nakheel ex-boss appointed CEO of Emaar Development

Emaar Development, set to launch Dubai’s first initial public listing in nearly three years on Thursday, has appointed the former boss of developer Nakheel as chief executive, it announced on its website.

The appointment of Chris O’Donnell comes as Dubai’s largest listed developer, Emaar Properties, prepares to sell 20 percent of its Emaar Development unit.

O’Donnell was CEO when a collapse in property prices forced Nakheel into a $16 billion restructuring during the global financial crisis. He left Nakheel in 2011 after five years in charge and later took over as head of Dubai’s Al Futtaim Real Estate Group.

Source: Reuters News

Dubai heading for greener construction, but developers still reluctant to spend, says expert

More than 60 percent of Atkins experts expect all future buildings to be green, but benefits of investment need explaining

A challenging macroeconomic climate, the absence of data on cost savings, and a lack of significant incentives for private sector developers to invest in making their projects more energy efficient are just a few of the barriers to building sustainable developments in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and wider Middle East region, an expert has said.

A study by design, engineering and project management consultancy Atkins said three out of five of the firm’s experts – 61 percent – believe that all buildings in the region will be environmentally-friendly and sustainable within the next 50 years.

However, several challenges need to be overcome to see this prediction become a reality, according to Atkins Middle East and Africa’s head of digital disruption, Marc Durand.

Source: Zawya