Jumeirah Golf Estate, the luxury residential golf community, will witness the completion of its dedicated power substation, infrastructure work and more than 300 villas — all before the end of next year, 'Emirates24|7' can reveal.

Work has already started on the 132KV power substation and is expected to be completed next year, a Nakheel spokesman told this website.

The company also expects completion of 160 villas in Whispering Pines in November 2012, while 99 villas in the Flame Tree Ridge and 47 mansions in Fireside are likely to be finished in December 2012.

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The UAE's market regulator has published new draft rules on short-selling and borrowing, asking investors for feedback, as it looks to boost dwindling trade and attract more foreign investment.

The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) posted on its website the draft regulations on short-selling through authorised brokers, security lending and borrowing and other market regulations. Suggestions on the draft can be given until November 17.

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About $140 billion (Dh514.15 billion) worth of engineering and construction contracts have been either awarded by the national oil companies (NOCs) or are planned throughout the Middle East in 2011, according to research conducted by Deloitte, a global consultancy firm.

The research shows that over the next five years, the Middle East will witness strong growth in hydrocarbon production as the world's dependence on fossil fuels continues.

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Deyaar Development made a profit of Dh45 million in the first nine months of 2011 and is poised to deliver two towers by year-end, the company said in a statement to Dubai's bourse yesterday.

The real estate firm was affected by the collapse of Dubai's property sector and posted a net loss of Dh489 million in the corresponding period last year.

Deyaar did not provide separate results for the third quarter but said revenues for the nine months to September 30 rose 54 per cent to Dh665 million from Dh432 million in the year-before period.

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The global demand for oil will continue to grow, reaching more than 109 million barrels per day in 2035, Ali Obaid Al Yabhouni, UAE Governor for the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), said Tuesday.

"By 2035, fossil fuels will still comprise more than 80 per cent of global supply. Gas use is expected to grow steadily to 25 per cent, while coal use is expected to remain unchanged at 29 per cent. Oil's share is bound to fall behind coal, from 34 per cent to 28 per cent of the global energy mix," Al Yabhouni said, speaking at an industry conference at the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR).

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The news that rents are continuing to fall in Abu Dhabi as more property comes online would come as a surprise to few in the capital.

While construction appeared to slow down during the summer, the completion of the flagship project on Sowwah Island, the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange, the long-awaited Salam Street and the Sorouh's Sun and Sky Towers certainly seems to have got the ball rolling again.

But falling rents are always a double-edged sword. While it bodes well for residents — who for years have had to pay over the odds for sub-standard housing — concerns over a second global economic recession have constrained demand in the third quarter of 2011, causing worry among developers who have projects almost ready to come online.

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Rents in the capital will soon be guided by an index providing information about the true rental value of properties, a senior municipal official said in the capital yesterday.

The index will determine the rental value of a unit based on indicators like location, number of bedrooms and how old it is, Ali Al Hashemi, manager of Tawtheeq at the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, told Gulf News.

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Education's role as a catalyst in deepening the sense of national identity among the youth was the dominant theme of the second session of the Dubai Partnership Agenda (DPA), a strategic government initiative to facilitate collaboration between the public and private sectors.

Heads of various organisations and public and private stakeholders in the education sector discussed the challenges at hand and the role that education can play in preserving national identity and thus furthering development goals.

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Saudi Arabia’s banks recorded a whopping 37.5 per cent increase in their net earnings in the third quarter of 2011 as they benefited from a surge in public spending and government contracts awarded in the first half.

The combined net profits of the Gulf kingdom’s 12 commercial bank stood at nearly SReight billion in the third quarter and the income is projected to remain high through the year, Saudi Arabia’s largest bank said.

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Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank (NCB), the country's biggest bank by assets, posted a 87 per cent rise in its third-quarter net profit, the lender said on Wednesday.

State-owned NCB made a net profit of 1.5 billion riyals ($412m) in the three months to end September, compared with 828m riyals in the same period a year earlier.

The unlisted lender's assets grew by 13 per cent to 307 billion riyals from 271bn riyals at the end of the same period last year, it said.

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Abu Dhabi’s real GDP could rocket above Dh1.5 trillion in 2030 while the non-oil sector will leap to nearly Dh976 billion to maintain its share of more than half the overall economy, according to government data.

The GDP in 2030 will be more than five times its level of Dh285bn in 2005 and nearly triple the 2010 GDP of Dh517bn, showed the figures by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (DED).

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The UAE maintained its position as having the largest banking sector in the Arab world for the third consecutive year while the country’s Emirates NBD emerged as the top bank in the region, according to banking data. At the end of the first half of 2011, the UAE controlled just over 18 per cent of the combined assets of the nearly 470 banks grouped in the Union of Arab Banks (UAB) and around 28 per cent of their capital.

Figures by the Beirut-based UAB showed the UAE, the second largest Arab economy, also had the highest deposits and credit level in the region’s banking sector after it overtook Saudi Arabia three years ago.

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Property owners and investors in stalled projects across Dubai can approach the Dubai Land Department to seek inclusion of their project under the Tanmia initiative, Emirates 24|7 can reveal.

“Investors or property owners of stalled projects can come to us. We will look at their petition after taking into account all the technical and legal details,” said Majida Ali Rashed, Senior Counsel Strategy, DLD.

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A major property deal – over a billion dirhams - has been struck in Ajman, according to a statement posted on the Plus Stock Exchange in London by one of the parties involved.

Dubai-based Bonyan International Investment Group has sold 67 out of 109 plots in its Dh3.5-billion Eye of Ajman project to Prime Investments International Group Limited.

The information was disclosed by Prime, a Cayman Island-incorporated company, in statements posted on the Plus Stock Exchange in London.

The purchase price of $396 million (Dh1.4bn) for the 67 plots has been settled in full by allotment of shares in Prime, it said.

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The UAE, in particular Dubai, will continue to benefit from its safe-haven status at a time of continued Middle East unrest although the deteriorating global outlook spells risks for the country, Citigroup said.

The expected surge in the inflow of tourists and investments into the UAE in the backdrop of unrest in some countries in the region will “provide significant tailwinds” to the country’s tourism and banking industries, Citigroup said its Global Economic Outlook and Strategy.

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During the first five months of 2011, Dubai's direct trade increased by 27 per cent despite regional unrest affecting certain markets, a study by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has found.

Dubai Chamber's members exports and re-exports increased by 17.1 per cent in the first eight months of this year, with goods valuing Dh162.1 billion, in contrast with Dh138.4bn during the same period in 2010.

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The central bank is working on a new system to set capital requirements for banks so they will remain compatible with the latest Basel III regulations on banks worldwide although they already control a “solid” capital base. But the central bank said the absence of a formal bond market in the UAE constitutes a hurdle for the implementation of Basel III, adding that it had just conducted a survey among banks about this issue.

In its second quarter bulletin released on Sunday, the central bank said the 51 banks operating in the UAE generally control an adequacy ratio that far exceeds the Basel III Tier 1 requirement of a minimum seven per cent for all banks, with their combined Tier 1 adequacy reaching 16.4 per cent at the end of June.

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His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has issued a decree authorising Dubai Real Estate Court to rule on cases related to mortgage firm Tamweel and its subsidiares.

According to the decree, the Judicial Panel – which was formed earlier to adjudicate in disputes related to two mortgage firms, Tamweel and Amlak Finance – will no more give rulings on disputes related to Tamweel and would rather refer cases and disputes linked to the mortgage firm to Dubai Real Estate Court.

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Dubai introduced on Wednesday a new law aimed at ensuring a more conducive environment for doing business and attracting investments.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, in his capacity as the Ruler of Dubai, has issued the new law to regulate economic activities in Dubai.

Law No. 13 of 2011 seeks to create a single-window system to ensure smoother and faster licensing procedures within the framework of the existing legislation by facilitating increased “coordination among various competent authorities”.

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The UAE pumped nearly Dh39 billion into the non-oil manufacturing sector in 2010 to maintain its position as one of the largest industrial investors in the Middle East, according to government data.

From around Dh81 billion at the end of 2009, the cumulative industrial investment in the Arab World’s second largest economy climbed to an all time high of Dh110bn at the end of 2010, showed the figures published this week in the annual industrial guide issued by the ministry of economy.

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Few developers in the capital have announced affordable housing projects, despite the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) directing at least 20 per cent of new residential property to be set aside for middle-income earners, according to a top real estate analyst.

“It is indeed the government’s policy, but to date, we have not seen many developers announcing projects that meet this criteria.

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Saudi Arabia is pumping nearly SR236 billion ($63bn) into projects to boost its petrochemical industry and maintain its position as one of the world’s top chemicals producers, the Gulf kingdom’s largest bank has said on Saturday.

Nearly 21 per cent of the value of the 62 projects is in the execution stage while 33 per cent is in the study phase and 18 per cent is in the bidding stage, National Commercial Bank (NCB) said in a study sent to 'Emirates24|7'.This indicates that although capacity expansions are already being undertaken, larger industry growth and project development will be onstream after 2015, NCB said, adding that projects “On Hold” also form a significant share at 14.5 per cent.

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The launch of the Gulf single currency, which had been delayed following the withdrawal of the UAE and Oman, is on track, Saudi Arabia’s Central Bank Governor Muhammad Al Jasser said.

Al Jasser said on the sidelines of a meeting of Arab central bank governors in Doha that the economic conditions in the Gulf are “excellent” for forming a monetary union and that a plan to launch a Gulf single currency was on track.

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UAE residents are more likely to use their income to pay off debts on items such as credit cards, personal and home loans as opposed to putting funds into savings accounts for the future, according to an Emirates 24|7 poll.

A majority (68 per cent) stated that they want to pay-off their debts, especially after the recession, underlining that an air of uncertainty and caution remains around the attitudes of consumers following the turbulent past few years. Since the global economic downturn, consumers have been far more cautious of their spending habits and prefer not to accumulate debt that may put them under pressure. To avoid mistakes of the past, many people are prioritising their debts over storing cash.

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An increase in demand for villas in the Meadows area of Dubai has pushed owners’ asking prices up by 10 to 20 per cent since the beginning of the year, according to real estate agents.

Data shared by Dubai-based Better Homes reveals that three-bedroom villas are now being offered for Dh3.2-3.3 million, compared to Dh2.5-2.6 million in January.

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Higher oil prices will expand Saudi Arabia’s economy by more than $95 billion in 2011 while real GDP will pick up by nearly 5.6 per cent, its highest growth in six years, according to an investment firm in the Gulf kingdom.

The increase in crude prices will also ally with higher oil output to turn a budgeted fiscal deficit into a surplus despite a sharp rise in actual public expenditure, the Riyadh-based Jadwa Investments said in a study.

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Property prices in Ajman have fallen by 20 per cent this year compared to 2010, with the market likely to stabilise next year, according to a senior government official.

“We have seen a price correction of 20 per cent from last year. We expect the market to stabilise next year with prices likely to fall by another five per cent,” Ajman Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Arra) Executive-Director Yafea Eid Al Faraj told 'Emirates24|7'.

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Ajman Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Arra) has settled claims worth Dh1.4 billion on Al Helio Downtown project - a move that is likely to bring cheers to many investors in stalled projects.

The move to settle claims was directed by Arra Chairman Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Nuaimi, who emphasised on the need to “safeguard the rights of the investors".

According to Arra Executive-Director Yafea Eid Al Faraj, it took nearly eight months of hard work and co-ordination between various stakeholders to settle the claims.

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The UAE banking sector will continue to steadily recover into the next year, reveals a latest forecast.

According to a Business Monitor International (BMI) report on commercial banking in the UAE, the business environment and infrastructure is very favourable and regulators are well regarded.

“Lending to the government, a segment that has largely been closed to the foreign banks, has been exploding. It should continue to grow, if at a more measured pace. At some stage, the privatisation of former state-owned enterprises should resume. This should provide opportunities for both commercial banks and investment banking affiliates”, it said as reported in 'Khaleej Times'.

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Abu Dhabi government-owned Al Hilal Bank plans to raise $500 million through the sale of a 5-year Islamic bond, or sukuk, a newspaper reported on Monday, citing the bank's chief executive officer.

Mohammad Berro told the newspaper that the Islamic bank is finalising the sukuk issue and will use proceeds to support the bank's growth and diversify its funding.

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Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO), the integrated free zone technology park, on Wednesday announced it has achieved positive results across all areas of operations during the first half of 2011, registering an operating profit of Dh121.9 million, up six per cent compared to the first half of 2010.

DSO also recorded Dh323.3 million in revenues for first half of 2011, a four per cent increase compared to the same period in 2010, and a net profit of Dh58.5 million.

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Housing rents and related items surged by 7.2 per cent in Saudi Arabia in the second quarter of 2011 to keep inflation in the world’s largest oil exporter at relatively high levels despite recovery in domestic credit.

Official data showed inflation in the Gulf Kingdom slipped to around 4.5 per cent in the second quarter from 4.9 per cent in the first quarter but remained relatively high compared with other Gulf countries.

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Dubai has been crowned once again as the ‘Middle East City of the Future 2010/11’ by fDi magazine underlining the emirate’s premier status as a preferred foreign direct investment destination.

Dubai ranked exceptionally well across all categories achieving top positions in Economic Potential, Infrastructure and Business Friendliness.

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Arab capital markets plunged by nearly $32 billion in the first 20 days of August to maintain a downward trend caused by the global fiscal turmoil and political unrest sweeping the region, official figures showed on Monday.

Most of the decline was in Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul, the largest and busiest bourse in the Middle East, as well as in Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt, showed the figures by the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund (AMF).

From around $913.3 billion at the end of July, the combined market capitalization of the Arab world’s 15 official stock exchanges dipped to about $881 billion, a decline of $32.3 billion in 20 days, an average $2.1 billion per working day.

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Capital markets in the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) saw another below par performance in the first half of 2011, with the number of floats reducing by 50 per cent to four compared to the eight initial public offerings (IPOs) in the first half of 2010, tax and advisory consultancy PwC said on Thursday in a research note.

However, the agency noted that while last year, the regional IPO activity was dominated by Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul, the UAE bourses were the most active in the region accounting for three out of the four IPOs in the first half of 2011 and representing 74 per cent of the total capital raised.

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Rents and property prices in the Northern Emirates continue to slide against the backdrop of an oversupply in Dubai and uncertainty over future recovery and growth prospects, CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), a real estate service provider and property consultancy, said on Wednesday in a report.

“The performance of individual emirates continues to fluctuate widely with Sharjah and Ajman currently feeling the brunt of Dubai’s overhang of space,” Matthew Green, CBRE UAE’s Head of Research and Consultancy, said in the report.

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High rents allied with rising food and gold prices to push up inflation in Saudi Arabia in July although the increase is not a source of concern for the Gulf Kingdom this year, according to a local investment firm.

Year-on-year inflation rose to 4.9 percent in July from 4.7 percent in June and food, rents and higher prices of jewelry and those for holiday accommodation were the main cause of the rise, though there were some notable falls, the Riyadh-based Jadwa Investment said in a study sent to Emirates 24/7.

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Union Properties (UP) went further into the red in the second-quarter as the struggling Dubai developer booked non-cash provisions against valuation of its properties.

The third largest developer in Dubai made a net loss of Dh521 million ($141.8m) in the quarter, according to Reuters calculations. This compared with a loss of Dh349.38 million in the same period a year ago.

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A global financial storm continued to put pressure on Arab stock markets and depressed them by more than $27 billion in the first nine days of August, bringing the total loss year to date to around $78 billion, official data showed on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul, by far the largest and most speculative regional stock exchange, emerged as the main victim of the turmoil as it dipped by nearly $15 billion in the first 10 days of August, showed the figures by the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), a key Arab League financial organization.

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Non-Resident Indians in the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries are contributing to build what is claimed to be India's biggest mosque, Share Mubarak Masjid, which will come up in the outskirts of Calicut, Kerala, home to a large number of NRIs living in the UAE.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7, Dr MA Hakkim Azhari Kanthapuram, Joint Secretary of Markazu Ssaquafathi Ssunniyya of Calicut, said during his visit to the UAE that about one million members of the organisation, many of them living in the UAE, contributed Rs1,000 (Dh85) each to build the largest Indian mosque in a proposed Knowledge City, which is located on the outskirts of Calicut.

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Aldar Properties, the developer rescued by a $5.2 billion bailout by Abu Dhabi, swung to a second quarter net profit, helped by sales and rental income, and raised an additional Dh1.4 billion ($381.2 million) loan from banks.

The builder of the Yas Marina Formula One circuit made a second-quarter net profit of Dh127.3 million ($34.6 million) compared with a loss of Dh475.3 million in the same period last year, it said in a statement on Abu Dhabi's bourse on Thursday.

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Bank credit to the UAE real estate sector lost steam it gained through 2010 and dropped by around 1.4 per cent in the first five months of 2011 as the sector appears to be still reeling under the 2008 global fiscal crisis.

The current political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa also seems to have allied with the post-crisis tightness by UAE banks’ to keep overall credit growth at low levels despite acceleration in the country’s GDP growth.

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The investment firm headed by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said Tuesday it signed a 4.6 billion riyal ($1.2 billion) deal with the Saudi Binladen Group to build the world's tallest tower.

Kingdom Holding Co. said the more than 3,280 foot (1,000 meter) high Kingdom Tower, to be built north of the Red Sea city of Jiddah, is part of the first phase of the planned Kingdom City. The sprawling mega project, announced in 2008, is slated to cover a two-square mile area.

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The UAE has pumped more than 28 billion barrels of crude oil out of its desert land since it discovered crude.

The production is nearly 6.2 per cent of the cumulative oil output of about 447 billion pumped by the 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) since it was created in 1960, Opec's figures have shown.

Despite such a massive production, the recoverable oil reserves of the UAE and most other Opec'snations either remained unchanged over the past decade or recorded a large increase because of new discoveries and the deployment advanced technology to reach more reserves that had been inaccessible.

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The United Arab Emirates' rail company has ordered seven locomotives for delivery by 2012 from Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), a unit of Caterpillar Inc, the UAE firm said on Sunday.

State-owned Etihad Rail plans to complete UAE's 40 billion dirham ($10.9 billion) rail project in the next seven to eight years, and later link it to other regional lines in the Gulf Arab region.

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A looming US debt default may not have any immediate repercussion on the UAE economy, but the crisis might further dent the value of dirham that is pegged to a sinking dollar, further fuelling domestic inflation.

The UAE Central Bank, in a bid to soothe public fears about the negative implications of a possible US default on the UAE economy, said on Thursday it was not presently holding any US treasury bonds or any other financial instruments issued by the US government “due to the very low return on holding such instruments.” The Central Bank added that it was confident that the US officials would meet the August 2 deadline on raising the country’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.

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Saudi Arabia’s economy grew by around 3.8 per cent in real terms in 2010 and is expected to sharply pick up by nearly 6.5 per cent this year because of higher oil output and public spending, a key Saudi bank said on Thursday.

The world’s top oil exporter and largest Arab economy is expected to overshoot its budgeted expenditure by more than a third in 2011, tempted by a surge in crude prices and its foreign assets, the Saudi American Bank (Samba) said.

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Emaar Properties, the builder of the world’s tallest tower, on Tuesday recorded a net operating profit of Dh843 million in the first six months of 2011, and said it would roll out a five-year corporate strategic action plan to drive long-term value creation.

Despite a drop in delivery of new units in the second quarter, the better performance was due to “superior performance of the hospitality and malls businesses and higher margins,” the Dubai-based developer said.

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Investors in the White Bay project, now under liquidation, are being offered a property swap option by a Dubai-based developer, who claims to have approval from the liquidators to make such an offer, Emirates 24|7 can reveal.

“We are presenting this offer with the permission of liquidators. The offer is part of our move towards offering a viable solution to affected customers from other developers. This also adjusts the new sales of our own units,” Ahmed Shaikhani, Managing Director, Memon Investments, said in an emailed response.

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Saudi Arabia’s foreign assets are forecast to reach a new peak of SR1.9 trillion at the end of 2011, the National Commercial Bank, or NCB, said.

The sustained strong oil prices coupled with higher crude output pushed the Kingdom’s foreign assets to a record high of more than SR1.8 trillion at the end of May this year.

The bank said the country boosted supply to one of its highest levels of 9.4 million bpd to offset Libya’s supply disruption. It noted that in recent years, the Kingdom’s policy of stockpiling foreign assets has been noticeable, adding that this policy has not changed.

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Investment bank Rasmala reckons a 20 per cent downside potential to property prices in Dubai, estimating that an additional 35,000 homes will be delivered in the emirate between 2011 and 2013 – boosting the existing housing stock of an estimated 330,000 units by about 10 per cent.

“We believe the Dubai residential market may see delivery of 30,000-35,000 units of apartments and villas combined between 2011 and 2013, upon an existing supply base of roughly 330,000 units. This translates into roughly 10 per cent incremental supply over three years, which we believe will further depress real state asset values,” the bank said today in a report on the UAE’s real estate market.

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Dubai's housing market still has nearly a third too much supply and prices will plummet by another 10 per cent, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.

Residential property prices in the emirate will fall 58 percent from a peak in the third quarter of 2008 according to the median estimate of 11 banks, investment firms and research institutions.

Rentals will, however, fall by five per cent in 2011 and one per cent next year, the median forecast showed.

Abu Dhabi rentals are expected to drop 10 percent this year and two per cent in 2012.

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Many expat professionals in the country consider the UAE a good place to work in, according to a poll conducted by Emirates 24|7.

Places like Singapore and India, have become very favourable after the recession but according to experts the choice may be due to other factors and not just the salary levels.

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A company under Dubai-based investment group Al Ghurair would build a storage facility in Vietnam to hold between 1.5 million and 2 million tonnes of petrol and oil products, a Vietnamese government report said.

Al Ghurair Commodities would open a subsidiary in Vietnam and use the storage to supply fuel to neighbouring countries, Chief Executive Officer Saeed Saif Al Ghurair was quoted in the Vietnamese government report late on Monday as saying.

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Rents in some areas of Sharjah have risen 2 per cent over the second quarter of 2011 despite a power cuts, petrol problems and a growing exodus of tenants to Dubai.

Quoting officials from real estate firm Asteco, Gulf News reported that rents for studio apartments in Al Khan and Corniche have climbed up to Dh25,000 though prices have fallen in other areas of the emirate. Office rents in the two areas also saw an increase by 5 per cent.

However, the growing exodus to Dubai, where the rents dipped further, continues even as tenants are prepared to pay the premium to be closer to their work places.

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Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways said its revenues grew by 28 per cent to $1.72 billion in the first half of the year, as the unlisted carrier looks to break even in 2011.

Etihad, which began operations in 2003, said in a statement on Wednesday that it saw a 2 per cent reduction in cost per available seat kilometre despite soaring oil prices.

Seat factor - the percentage of available seats that are filled during a specific period - increased to 72.9 per cent from 72.5 per cent seen in the first half of 2010, while passenger numbers rose 14 per cent to 3.8 million, James Hogan, chief executive of Etihad said in the statement.

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Dubai dropped 26 places to be ranked 81 globally in the list of most expensive cities for expatriates, making the emirate potentially more attractive places for foreigners to live, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

Price increases for the Mercer basket of goods and services remained moderate in Dubai during the period March 2010 to March 2011.

The trend of falling accommodation costs continues across the Middle East region, driving the cities down the global cost of living ranking and, particularly in the case of politically stable markets such as the UAE.

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More developers in Dubai should offload their unsold inventory at “sufficient” discounts to spark off sales in the primary market, says a real estate expert.

“We want to see more of these offers because it shows that the primary market is become more realistic and, assuming discounts are sufficient, will spark transactions.

Currently, the primary market is stagnating, especially for units still under construction. Of course, this will impact the secondary market, but secondary price declines, especially in outlying areas, were always inevitable,” Jesse Downs, Director of Management Consulting, Jones Lang LaSalle Mena, told Emirates 24|7.

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Affordable communities such as Discovery Gardens and International City saw rents falling 11 per cent and four per cent, respectively, in the second quarter 2011 compared to the first quarter, while upmarket locations such as Palm Jumeirah, Downtown Dubai and Jumeirah Beach Residence remained relatively stable, according to a new report.

Asteco, a Dubai-based property management company, said apartment rents fell two per cent on average for a number of areas across the emirate as large number of tenants started moving from two and three-bedroom apartments to townhouses, or small villas.

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UAE-based Etihad Airways has signed a sponsorship deal with the English soccer club Manchester City, Bloomberg News reported.

The carrier will get the naming rights for the City of Manchester Stadium under the deal. Etihad is already involved in a 2.3 million pound (Dh13.5 million; $3.7 million) shirt sponsorship deal with the club.

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Dubai World announced on Wednesday that it had signed agreements setting out the terms to separate its property units Nakheel and Limitless in order to transfer them to the Dubai government as part of a complex and protracted restructuring process.

The board of the Dubai government’s flagship conglomerate also named Andy Watson as its managing director and Junaid Rahimullah as chief financial officer.

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Dubai’s real estate is likely to witness some stability in capital values while Abu Dhabi will see highest value declines over the next 12 months, a latest Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) survey has said.

“While Dubai is already passed the supply peak, Abu Dhabi is still approaching the peak of the supply cycle. Thus, Abu Dhabi rents and sale prices are expected to continue to decline in the coming year,” the global property consultancy said in its 2011 Middle East and North Africa (Mena) Real Estate Investor Sentiment survey released today.

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Details surrounding the new three-year real estate visa announced by the UAE government last week are flying in thick and fast.

While this website on Monday spoke to a source who claimed to be in the know as to what was discussed at these meetings before announcing the decision, no official statement has been forthcoming so far. Until now.

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A few developers in Dubai have challenged Real Estate Regulatory Agency’s (Rera) decision to cancel their projects, says a top legal expert.

“We are aware of some developers challenging Rera cancellations, as is their right under Decree 6 of 2010. The cancellation of any project has significant negative repercussions on developers, both financially and to their reputation and brand image. Developers are ready to take prompt and effective action to appeal any purported termination,” Shahram Safai, Partner and Head of the Real Estate Team at Afridi & Angell, told Emirates 24|7.

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Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties, the region’s largest property developer, has said that the UAE federal government’s decision of extending the validity of visas for foreign real estate investors in the country will boost investor confidence in the sector while driving future growth.

“The UAE Federal Cabinet decision to extend residence visa for real estate investors to three years will significantly enhance investor confidence and drive the growth of the country’s property sector,” Alabbar said in an emailed statement.

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Reflecting a growing economic development and promising investment opportunities, Dubai hit a new record growth of 34 per cent in direct trade exchange with the world in the first quarter of 2011, exceeding Dh183 billion against Dh136 billion over the same period in 2010.

Ahmed Butti, Executive Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, said that the statistics released showed a significant rise of 16 per cent in the weight of the exchanged goods up to 11.92 million tonnes from January to March this year compared to 10.25 million tonnes in the same period last year.

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A three-phase development programme for remote areas in the UAE was given the go-ahead by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, during an inspection visit to the Ministry of Public Works Sunday.

Shaikh Mohammad ordered the setting up of utilities and an integrated infrastructure in remote areas that will contribute to changing them into advanced urban cities possessing all the elements for providing Emiratis with a dignified life.

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Chris O'Donnell, who left his job as Nakheel chief executive this month, has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the developer.

A lawyer for Mr O'Donnell filed the case on Wednesday at the Dubai World Tribunal, the special court established to hear cases involving Dubai World and its subsidiaries. No further details were available yesterday, but the lawsuit could expose rifts between one of Dubai's biggest government-backed developers and the Australian who ran the company for five years.

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The number of high networth individuals (HNWIs) from the Middle East and their total wealth surged last year, reporting the second highest growth rate in the world, according to the latest World Wealth Report published by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.

The combined wealth of HNWI and ultra-HNWIs (individuals with more than $30 million [Dh110 million] assets) increased 12.5 per cent last year to $1.7 trillion.

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Motorists in Sharjah can heave a sigh of relief after three weeks of petrol shortage at Enoc and Eppco petrol stations in the emirate.

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has stepped in to supply fuel to the oil retailers on the orders of General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

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Dubai property resale basically deals with resale of property legally to someone. You can sell your property or assign your agreement to anybody which means that they will take over the payments to be made to the developer. The minimum premium attached in Dubai property resale is of 8%-10%. These apart, other costs may also come along in the form of transfer fee to the developer of resale properties. This is usually between 1% and 7% (depending on the development) of the original price of the property. In order to resale your property in Dubai you can take the help of real estate service which are in the business of selling Dubai real estate, houses, apartments, town houses, villas, holiday homes, beachfront property, and land by promoting it to thousands of buyers.

Investing in a Dubai property resale could fetch you instant gains. However, you should be very careful while investing in order to avoid cases of fraud and other commotions in future. You must make sure that you purchase the property directly from the real owner or developer of the property, especially when you are purchasing resale property at the construction stage. To buy a property as part of Dubai property resale, the process is easy and once you have found a property, a holding deposit is paid until funds are in place to carry out the exchange. But always bear in mind that you associate with a professional to guide you to know fully what Dubai property resale is all about and to know yourself about the deal through Dubai property resale.

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Investment property in Dubai has always been a popular form of achieving good capital gains and income. Global investors are increasing eyeing on investment property in Dubai as a way of diversifying their investment portfolios and gaining higher returns than in their home markets. Thus, investment property in Dubai is undoubtedly attracting much interest from investors along with the booming economy of the country. On account of strategic location and favorable tax system, Dubai is also a hub of business apart from being a favorite destination of scores of tourists. Investment property in Dubai has also gets a boost falling in line with the huge investment into other market sectors. Capital gains and income yields are much higher than most other international property markets and with no personal income or capital gains taxes it is easy to see why Investment property in Dubai is so popular.

Investment Property in Dubai brings some of the nice offers as well with the availability of properties with 100% freehold status in areas such as Dubai Marina, Dubai land, Jumeirah, Jebel Ali, The Palm Jumeirah and sports city. Investment property in Dubai has varied tags and it can range from around 43,000 GBP up to anything over 5,000,000 GBP. Investment property in Dubai also avails itself with property type’s apartments, Villas and Penthouses in some of the most scenic locations of Dubai. The properties are still in high demand due to population increases year on year. Investment properties in Dubai usually come with first class communal facilities including Health areas, restaurants and other retail shops. It is available both residential and commercial. Dubai investment properties if rented are tax free income generators.

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