| 10 Mar 2010 |
|
Property Deals may not Pick Up Fast in Abu Dhabi in Short Term
- Text size
ABU DHABI -- Property prices and transactions in the capital emirate are unlikely to increase significantly in the coming months, due to mortgage rate cuts announced recently by the government as well as by some of financial institutions and developers jointly, according to forecasts by Landmark Advisory, a property consultancy firm.
The firm expects that delivery of new units will take place only at the end of the second quarter in Abu Dhabi, and the rate cuts announced were likely to jack up the demand for some of the properties which are nearing completion, Hesham Ikhwan, Branch Manager-Abu Dhabi, Landmark Properties, told Khaleej Times.
"The limited transaction activity observed during the end of the fourth quarter of last year continues into January and February 2010, with existing demand continuing to focus on close-to-completion developments such as Marina Square, Al Reef Villas, Sky Tower and Al Bandar.
"The market has reached a standstill due to the ongoing postponement of delivery dates, especially for projects like Al Bandar and Marina Square," said Jesse Downs, Director of Research and Advisory Services, Landmark Advisory, in a Press statement on Tuesday. "This trend extends to Al Reef Villas, where the slow handover process is weakening investor confidence."
Transactional prices in the capital have experienced only marginal declines of up to four per cent as demand levels decreased and sellers became increasingly competitive, the statement said.
According to Landmark Advisory, majority of buyers in Abu Dhabi (up to 70-80 per cent) purchase property through finance. On the recent announcement that the government plans to reduce the cost of home loans in the capital, the statement said quoting Ikhwan: "Due to the recent rate reduction, projects financed by Abu Dhabi Finance (ADF)Abu Dhabi Finance (ADF)
should start to see more demand. At present, ADFADF finances six out of the fourteen towers in Marina Square and we expect that these towers will receive the most interest.""With lower rates available and the initial completion of freehold supply, more buyers will be encouraged to purchase rather than lease," added Ms Downs.
"The market is currently at a standstill. While these changes are expected to stimulate demand, the improvement will be moderate in absolute terms. We do not expect the volume of transactions to increase significantly in the near future, even for close-to -completion developments. Buyers are now waiting for distressed sales, which are expected to materialize closer to handover, when the largest payment plan installment is due," said Ms Downs.
By Staff Report
Zawya is a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties and subscribers. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by those third parties, including information providers, subscribers or other users of the Service, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of the Company. The Company neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Service by anyone other than authorized Service employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. The Company is not responsible for any infringement of intellectual property rights or breach of any applicable law or regulation, including regulation in relation to financial services or the distribution of financial products, defamation, data protection, telecommunications (including regulations relating to excessive use, spamming or other abusive activities) or obscene, offensive or illegal content). Under no circumstances will the Company be liable for any loss or damage caused by a member's reliance on information obtained through the Service. It is the responsibility of member to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Service. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.
Read the full Member Agreement
http://www.zawya.com/legal/NewsLetter.cfm?name=disclaimer
Loading ...
Post a Comment
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.