Tag Archives: real estate
Dubai to get more affordable homes
Dubai is usually associated with luxury property that fits with the glitz associated with the celebrities and wealthy property owners in the emirate but several new announcements now suggest otherwise. One developer is to build a series of affordable homes in Dubai while over 200 dilapidated villas that were lying empty are to be demolished. The moves show a different side to the emirate’s real estate market and is a reminder that not all properties are luxury apartments for the well off. Danube Properties has unveiled an affordable housing project that will allow home owners to turn one room into two. The Ritz Project at Al Furjan includes 452 fully furnished apartments, comprising of studios, and one a d two bedroom units. The rooms features a bed which can be tucked into the wall during the day, thus creating a larger living room space. At night it can be lowered to transform the accommodation into a bedroom. The Ritz also includes retail space and a gym, together with an outdoor running track and swimming pool, tennis and badminton courts and a basketball area. ‘We are bringing the latest home technology to our customers at a time when consumers are looking for more with less,’ said Rizwan Sajan, founder and chairman of Danube Group, who added that the homes are aimed at new couples and small families. The launch comes at a time when the luxury part of the property market is experiencing a softening, but Sajan pointed out that some 18,000 new homes are needed in the emirate over the next five years. ‘Real estate is a long term business and I am a firm believer in the long term sustainability of Dubai’s economy, which is very resilient. The current supply of 12,000 to 13,000 homes per annum falls well below the anticipated demand. Besides more than 80% of Dubai’s population live in rented homes,’ he explained. ‘With property prices coming down to a more realistic level we see the possibility of a large scale migration to home ownership from rental homes,’ Sajan added. Meanwhile, around 250 dilapidated villas across Dubai which are regarded as posing a public health risk are to be demolished. According to Dubai Municipality many of the properties are caught up in inheritance disputes between family members and the rightful owner has neglected them, making them a threat to security and public health. ‘There is a possibility that these houses are used as a den for crimes and as a hiding place for illegals and fugitives,’ said Khaled Mohammed Saleh, head of the buildings department at Dubai Municipality. It is estimated that there are 713 abandoned houses across Dubai of which 303 have already been demolished and a further 154 have been renovated by their owners. The Municipality will now issue orders to the owners for the houses to be demolished and if they fail to comply the properties will be taken down and the owners charged. Continue reading
Surge in demand for buy to let funding via limited companies from UK investors
The decision by the UK government to charge an extra 3% in stamp duty on but to let property buyers from April this year has led to a sharp increase in demand for limited company lending. New research shows that property investors looking for finance using a limited company has increased and at the same time the number of buy to let lenders offering finance to limited companies has also risen. The latest index from Mortgage for Businesses, covering the second half of 2015 shows that new applications for limited company buy to let mortgages had dipped to 15% of all buy to let applications in October but, then, almost immediately started to rise sharply, spurred on by the stamp duty surcharge announcement. By December, new limited company buy to let applications accounted for just over 38% of all buy to let applications. Completions for limited company buy to let mortgages accounted for nearly 22% of all buy to let completions in October, up from nearly 17% the previous month and this increased to 24% in December. ‘The increase in limited company buy to let activity is to be expected since the proposed restrictions to buy to let mortgage interest relief for individuals paying the higher tax rate were announced by the government in the Summer Budget,’ said David Whittaker, managing director at Mortgages for Business. ‘Operating portfolios via corporate structures is expected to be more tax efficient, particularly for higher tax rate-paying individuals, including individuals where the new tax regime will tip them into the higher tax bracket where previously they had remained below it,’ he explained. ‘The stamp duty surcharge has also had a direct impact on activity with investors trying to get purchases completed before 31 March 2016, particularly as the actual rules where the surcharge will apply will not be confirmed until 16 March 2016,’ he added. The index also shows that almost a third of buy to let lenders offered products to limited companies in the second half of the year, up from 23% in the first half of 2015. However, by the end of December this figure had risen to 36%. The number of products for limited company applicants increased by nearly 50% to an average of 147 in the second half of 2015, up from 99 in the first half of the year. ‘It’s good to see that the results continue to disprove the theory that there are insufficient products available to limited companies. It’s also interesting that pricing has come down, if only marginally. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if rates for limited companies reduced further in the coming months but I doubt we’ll see huge falls,’ said Whittaker. In December 2015 products for limited companies were, on average 0.7% points more costly than the market as a whole, a marginal reduction compared to July when it was 0.8%. The average limited company rate in December was 4.4%, down from 5.4% in July. Across… Continue reading
Property sales in Auckland, New Zealand, see steep fall at end of 2015
Property prices in Auckland, New Zealand, remained stable last month but there was a significant fall in the number of sales compared to those in November and a year ago. The average sales price for December at $869,492, down 0.8% on November's record average price while the median price rose to an all-time high of $800,000, up 0.6% on that for November, according to data from Barfoot and Thompson ‘From a price perspective, the market was rock steady but sales data for the final month of 2015 is sending mixed messages as to where the market will head in 2016,’ said Peter Thompson, the firm’s managing director. The data reveals that sales for the month at 796 were 19.3% lower than in November, and it was the lowest number of sales in a December for four years. December's sales were also the lowest in any month for the past 22 months. While in December new listings at 757 were down 555 on those in November, Thompson explained that this level of decline is quite normal and they were the highest in a December for four years. ‘The factor most likely to impact on January sales was the extremely low number of listings at the end of December which, at 2431, was down 25.2% on those in November, and the lowest number for any month for more than 20 years,’ he said. ‘With a growing population and the number of new builds failing to keep pace with demand, competition for properties is likely to remain strong in the first quarter of 2016. January's sales data is always influenced by the summer holiday period, and it is likely to be the middle of March, when February's sales data is available, that a clearer understanding of prospects for 2016 emerge,’ he pointed out. ‘What is clear, however, is that with so few properties on the market, now is an excellent time to list,’ he added. The figures also show that in December some 278 properties sold for in excess of $1 million and a further 202 for in excess of $750,000. Sales of properties in the under $500,000 price category at 44 made up 5.5% of all sales. In 2015, the average sale price of homes for the full year was $817,096, an increase of 14% on that for 2014 and 25.8% over 2013's average sales price. The median price for 2015 was $755,333, some 17.4% higher than 2014's median price and 30.5% higher than that for 2013. Continue reading
