Property rents in Qatar are set to plummet by up to 25% next year as a glut of new apartments come onto the market, it is claimed. Up to 9,000 new apartments are due to be completed in Qatar in 2010 and an estimated 100 tower projects are either already underway or planned to be launched during the next few years, despite the current slowdown in construction triggered by the global economic crisis due to following reasons.
Demand was easing as a result of the economic problems, but despite this all the new apartments were expected to be filled by next year.
Demand for high-end housing was still expected to remain high as the government was increasing spending on infrastructure projects and the oil and gas sector.
Now analysts expect that there will not be a downturn in rental prices until June.

With the worldwide credit crunch, property prices are going down all over the world. In this view Indian Real estate prices in need to fall by 20% or more if the market is to pick up, the head of India’s largest private bank has warned. He denied the news that his bank has tightened credit so much that property related businesses are finding it hard to source funds for developments.
However developers across the country have cancelled or delayed projects because of lack of funding and they are turning to affordable housing projects as the market has stalled for luxury villas and apartments.
Indian property developers have asked both local and central governments to relax the home density rules. Current rules say that builders cannot construct houses for more than 400 people on a hectare of land. Developers want the number to be doubled.
Property prices in India have doubled since 2005 are now expected to return to their pre 2005 rates.

Detectives are looking at cases involving thousands of investors losing millions of pounds in alleged property frauds in the UK and overseas.
Many investigations are examining off-plan buy-to-let frauds involving hundreds of properties in Leeds, Cardiff, Nottingham, Derby, Liverpool, Hull and London.
Already this month five directors of Gateshead based PPP Ltd (Practical Property Portfolios Ltd) and sister company Napeer (Holdings) Ltd have pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading charges.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the companies were wound up after £65 million of investors’ money was lost. PPP sold 4,000 residential properties to 1,750 investors for £80 million. Sentencing will be in March.
Investors paid in £25,000 fees for property in ‘up and coming’ areas in the northeast with a rent guarantee.
The defendants misled investors in almost every material respect. said the prosecution.
North Yorkshire Police are planning more arrests over an alleged £2m international property fraud involving York-based Challenor Property Developments Ltd after arresting and bailing four people on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering offences.
Inquiries concerning Challenor are underway in the USA and Spain.

Source: http://www.overseaspropertymall.com/

Work on Dh2.56 trillion ($698 billion) worth of civil construction projects in the UAE is still progressing full steam ahead, despite the current economic climate, research shows.

Of an industry worth around $1.4 trillion, this means nearly half of all civil construction projects in the UAE are still underway.

“That’s about 50 per cent of the projects are still proceeding. It’s very good news and exactly the kind of information that will bring confidence back to the market place,” said Nicholas Maclean, managing director, CB Richard Ellis.

A total of 1,289 UAE projects were recently assessed in a report by research house, Proleads.

These projects include buildings, infrastructure such as roads, railways, bridges and ports, educational and healthcare facilities, sport facilities and hotels.

However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the financial downturn is taking its toll on more than 50 per cent of all civil construction projects in the areas of real estate, leisure and entertainment are on hold, according to Proleads.

Around $582 billion of civil construction projects are now on hold, the research entity said.

This represents 52.8 per cent of the total civil construction portfolio in the country.

“The UAE may no longer be the land of milk and honey but it is still in a far better position than most,” Emil Rademeyer, director of Proleads Global.

“To put it into perspective, the $698 billion of continuing work we are reporting is almost equivalent to the latest stimulus package proposed for the US,” Rademeyer added.

While numerous real estate projects had been scheduled for completion in early 2009, the rate at which projects are being completed has slowed, according to Proleads.

Up until recently, the UAE construction industry was swamped with projects, as it tried to keep up with the booming property sector, which was driving up both prices and rental rates.
We were reading from Newspapers and watching TV that property prices in Dubai are coming down and construction works are halting but what GULF NEWS say about it:

In the last months, however, the property scene in the UAE has changed, most visible in Dubai. Property prices in all sectors, including residential, commercial and retail are falling amid job cuts, especially in the real estate and construction industries. While projects delays are common in all markets, even in good times, it is the rate at which UAE projects are put on hold that will determine when the upswing will start.

The report recognises “potential trouble” if the rate at which projects go on hold increases, but sees the construction industry here as being resilient in terms of cash flow levels.

“It is this resilience that will eventually see UAE construction through to better times. The US economy took the world into recession and it will ultimately lead the global economy out of recession,” the report said.

Source: http://archive.gulfnews.com/

As the woes of the property markets in the US, UK and Dubai continue to dominate many discussions it has gone quite quiet on emerging markets like Brazil.
Just a year ago Brazil was one of the most talked about property markets in the world and it is not unreasonable to wonder what is happening there now.
But there is not much information out there. There are general noises coming from real estate agents that prices are still moving in an upward direction but little hard facts. It is hard to find out what is really going on.
What little information there is on the property forums this week is sparse and it is clear that what is happening varies from location to location? For example, on the propertycommuity.com forum some people report that the economic downturn is having no impact while others are seeing a quietening in the market.
North East Brazil seems to be relatively unscathed but other parts of the country are not doing as well, according to reports on the forum. There are also warnings about violence in Rio but other places are described as charming and welcoming.
But when it comes to opportunities London might be one place worth a look. Recently analysts have been predicting that prices in London are reaching bottom and there is evidence on the landlordzone.co.uk forum of bargains if you take the time to hunt for them.

http://www.propertywire.com

£53bn worth of projects are on hold in Dubai
The real extent of the halt in developments in Dubai has been revealed by an international bank which estimates that projects worth £53 billion have now been put on hold.
According to HSBC 59 projects have been severely affected by the global downturn and of these eight have been cancelled and the rest put on hold.
In a report note the banks says that high end residential projects and commercial developments are those at most risk in the current economic conditions.
‘The worst is the cancellation of entire projects even though they appeared to be in advanced stages of construction,’ it says.
The situation is having a knock-on effect on contractors who say they are owed millions of dirhams by state-linked developers and some may face bankruptcy as credit dries up and major projects are cancelled or scaled back.
‘There has been a marked increase in the number of contractors asking for help to obtain payment, including payments certified months ago on some of Dubai’s largest projects,’ said Michael Grose, a partner at legal firm Clyde & Co LLP.
‘Whilst there is definitely an upswing in restructuring advice, no construction businesses are coming through the door wanting to put themselves into liquidation, yet,’ he added.
Of the projects under review two were being developed by Damac Properties, one of the Middle East’s largest private developers.
Amongst the companies to cancel or delay a number of projects is government-owned developer Nakheel with six projects on hold, including its Palm Deira project and the $790 million Trump Tower project on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah.
Nakheel said in January that it was postponing construction on its Nakheel Harbour & Tower, a one kilometre tall tower marketed to be the world’s tallest. Nakheel said the company was re-adjusting its plans to better reflect the current market trends and match supply with demand.
In November, Limitless, another government-backed developer, said it was reviewing the pace of a $61 billion canal development.
In December, the government-backed developer Meraas said it was taking another look at the phasing and rollout of a $95 billion re-development programme in the heart of Dubai.
The HSBC report says a number of projects at the $110 billion Dubailand development, which was destined to be the pinnacle of the emirate’s tourism draw, have been cancelled, including The Falcon City of Wonders project that was to include a replica of the Eiffel Tower, the Tower of Pisa and the Taj Mahal among other wonders of the world.

http://www.propertywire.com

The effects of the global financial market upheaval and the deflating world economy slowed Asian investment property markets significantly during the second half of 2008.
The unprecedented events of the past six months have eroded investor, occupier, consumer and overall business confidence, resulting in falling property prices and reduced investment activity, along with declining retail spending and external trade across the region, according to CB Richard Ellis’ Asia Investment MarketView Report for the second half of 2008.
With banks adopting a conservative approach towards lending for property acquisition, the Asian investment market suffered from record low investment volume in the July – December period as prospective buyers delayed acquisitions until the market shows signs of stabilizing. Investors and lenders re-assessed their appetite for risk as raising capital proved to be an increasingly difficult task amid a widespread correction in property prices.
While valuations in Thailand have not fallen at the rate seen in other Asian markets, few transactions were concluded during this period, as buyers and sellers opted to remain on the sidelines in view of global financial worries and local political uncertainty. The period saw buyer and seller expectations widen with many purchasers hoping for distressed assets to come onto the market and sellers unwilling to drop prices below a certain level.
“In recent weeks, we have seen an increasing availability of land for sale within Bangkok’s CBD. Some investors are freeing up cash as they expect other property assets, including revenue-generating buildings, to come onto the market in the coming months,” states Ms. Kulwadee Sawangsri, Director of Investment & Land Services at CB Richard Ellis Thailand. “It appears that land prices peaked in 2008, and landowners who do not plan to develop their land in the near future are now considering selling those plots.”
“The situation in Thailand is very different to many other Asian countries, and cannot be compared to the difficulties we faced in 1997. The debt levels on existing, completed buildings are much lower this time. In the office and retail sectors, there is limited future supply under construction.”
Things were worse in Singapore, where the S$3.93 billion investment volume recorded during the review period brought the 2008 total to just S$17.84 billion, 70% down on the S$54.02 billion recorded in 2007. In Japan, a number of institutional funds aborted planned property acquisitions as the credit crunch compelled many developers to consolidate while a rising number of real estate firms were forced to seek bankruptcy protection.
Investor confidence in Hong Kong was shaken by the escalation of the global financial turmoil with potential purchasers displaying a cautionary attitude towards buying property as worries over potential layoffs and bankruptcies dominated the headlines. The investment market in China suffered from dampened investor sentiment, prolonged negotiations, aborted deals and reduced prices during the second half of the year as the Chinese economy slowed.
In South Korea, there were a number of transactions involving office buildings as foreign investors exited the local real estate market. Investor sentiment and business confidence has deteriorated significantly, and the stock of commercial property available for sale has increased as institutional investors offload real estate from their portfolios in order to shore-up liquidity.

http://www.propertywire.com

Recently a report was published on a website about properties in New zealand which show that there is not decline in property in Dubai but it is now all over the world. Read this report:

“An upmarket coastal paradise popular with the rich and famous in New Zealand where Prime Minister John Key has a property is suffering from a real estate slump.
Even the presence of celebrities such as fashion designer Trelise Cooper, actor and television presenter Louise Wallace and sailor Dean Barker at Omaha have failed to prevent prices falling.
Real estate agents have noticed a downturn in demand for property at the coastal settlement north of Auckland and are reporting the quietest summer ever in terms of sales.
Properties that are selling are going for substantially below their asking prices. One property listed for $875,000 sold for $690,000 and a waterfront property listed at $1.6 million went for $1.2m.
As a result of the slump 17 properties are being put up for auction this weekend. Some are rumoured to belong to wealthy owners who need to sell their second homes because of the economic downturn.
The area has seen a lot of new construction in the last year. The more established northern end, where Key has a holiday home, is like many other coastal settlements, with plenty of modest properties from the 1970s and 1980s.
The southern is more flashy with large, architecturally-designed homes and lots of For Sale signs. The beach is described as glorious and the area is also popular for fishing and sailing.Some locals claim that cash-strapped developers are having to sell but other properties up for sale are individually owned.
Mark Macky, director of Bayleys North Auckland, which opened an office in Omaha two weeks ago, has heard speculation about the resort’s future, but said it was not borne out by facts.
He described Omaha as a ‘wealthy’ market, and with the who’s who of Auckland owning homes there, public interest was always high and the number of properties on the market represented only 6% of the resort’s total.
However, he admitted that Omaha was not immune to the recession and that prices were on a downward trend and sales volumes had slumped. Only about nine sections sold last year, compared to more than 50 in 2007.
He added that if people were under financial pressure, second homes were often the first assets to be sold.
Source this report www.propertywire.com

It was not easy to buy a property in China in the pas but Government has made some amendments for foreigners to buy properties in China to boost its economy. Following is a report published on a website:

“Restrictions on foreigners buying real estate property in Beijing were called off as Beijing introduced a slew of measures Friday to revitalize the sluggish property market.

The residency requirement and house type limits for expatriates buying homes in Beijing has been called off throughout 2009, according to the 15 opinions co-released by nine departments — including the municipal construction committee, development and reform commission and finance bureau of Beijing.

In its bid to curb overheated property market, the Beijing municipal government issued regulations in 2007 stipulating that only expatriates living in Beijing for more than one year and those who could provide details proving they would be the primary inhabitants could buy one house.

“In simple words, foreign expatriates in Beijing could buy only one house then,” said Li Wenjie, general manager of real estate agency Centaline China´s North China Branch.

“The house price skyrocketed at that time. The government wanted to curb foreign capital from driving up the property price.”

Foreign purchases accounted for seven to eight per cent in all the real estate transaction in Beijing before the regulation took effect. After that, the number dropped to 0.5 per cent, he said.

Due to customers´ strong wait-and-see sentiment, the sold floor space of commercial residential buildings fell 40 per cent in 2008 than the previous year. And the property price growth rate in 2008 was down 1.9 per cent over 2007.

After China´s State Council, or Cabinet, unveiled a real-estate stimulus package in November including tax and interest rate cuts to boost home purchases, the market showed signs of warming up.

The capital´s total turnover of commercial residential buildings in November was 5,431 sets, a 58 per cent gain year on year. The first half of January saw a turnover of 3,187 sets, up 19.8 per cent then the previous year.”

Source: http://www.property-report.com/

What investors are worried now after buying the property when there was a boom and developers were spending thousand on publicity to get max. investment from foreign countries that government had not proper laws to save the benefits of investors. The following news published in gulf news reflects the views:

“Investors in Dubai’s off-plan market are counting on draft laws aimed at protecting them, that are expected to come into play soon.

Several investors aired their views on the issue on the Gulf News website.

“I bought a unit off-plan a year ago. The developer said construction would start in a couple of weeks. Construction has not started yet and the developer is sending letters to pay or I will face daily charges. I have already paid 30 per cent of the total price,” said Frank, a Canadian investor.

And Frank is not the only one.

“I invested in a property in April, but the developer hasn’t started construction yet and I don’t think they will be able to build now, since there is no finance for new projects available and most clients are defaulting because of the financial situation,” Katharina, a Dubai resident, said.

“The overwhelming majority believes that refunds should be given and projects cancelled if construction has not yet started,” Bilal, an investor from Karachi, said.

“Yes, I think if six months pass and the developer has not started construction, the contracts should be cancelled and buyers should get refunds,” he added.

These comments follow recent news about two draft laws set to bring further protection for investors in the shaky off-plan market.

One states that developers own the land and complete 20 per cent of construction before selling off-plan.

The second law says the payment plan must be linked to construction progress, thereby forcing developers to start work and making sure investors pay only 20 per cent of the property price up-front.

Now would be an ideal time for the laws to become effective with investors still worried about some developers.

Investors with Union Properties projects are concerned the developer is short of money, following a recent Prompt Payment Initiative offered to them for a two-week period only.

While any investor would welcome 10 per cent being slashed from their outstanding balance, especially given the current economic climate, some are viewing the initiative as a warning signal. Some investors are worried that the developer is running low on cash and the five projects will be delayed or stopped if no one chooses to settle the balance.

Union Properties wrote letters to investors of five of its projects, offering them a 10 per cent reduction in the remaining balance of their units, if they chose the Prompt Payment Initiative.

“If you choose to settle the balance due on or before February 15, 2009, we will reduce the amount due by 10 per cent as an incentive for early settlement,” said Union Properties in letters to investors of Index, Limestone House, Green Community Motorcity, Uptown Motorcity and the Control Tower.

Union Properties had also announced a rent-to-own scheme back in November.

In light of potential investor cash-flow issues, it is not clear if anyone or most investors, will be able to stump out the remaining cash.

Officials at Sorouh did not respond when contacted repeatedly by Gulf News last week.

Source: http://www.gulfnews.com/