Opinion Real Estate Big squeeze: Dubai’s office market reaches new peak The emirate is witnessing a ‘first come, first served’ leasing mentality December 7, 2023
Construction US Green Building Council to launch new ratings system The US Green Building Council is launching a new ratings system to measure structures against tough sustainability targets. It is the first time in 10 years that the organisation has updated its policy, with the industry largely relying on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Leed) green building system. According to the US Green […] December 6, 2023
Analysis Markets Real estate trusts struggle despite strong Dubai market Dubai’s resurgent property market has delivered riches to property owners and shareholders of leading developers like Emaar Properties, but investors in two listed Dubai real estate investment trusts – Emirates REIT and ENBD REIT – are nursing sustained losses. Both trusts are listed on Nasdaq Dubai. The emirate’s international bourse launched in 2005 with the […] December 6, 2023
SPECIAL REPORT Real Estate Turkish housing crisis persists despite construction surge Activity in the Turkish construction industry is picking up pace, fuelled by the need to rebuild after the February earthquakes — but economic woes mean the road could be long, experts tell AGBI. Even before the February earthquakes, which killed 50,000 people, injured 100,000 more, and made 3 million homeless overnight, the country of 83 […] December 5, 2023
Construction UAE’s Aldar buys British developer for $291m Abu Dhabi-listed Aldar Properties has acquired London-based developer London Square in a deal worth AED1.07 billion ($291.4 million). The transaction marks Aldar’s first acquisition outside the Mena region. The Abu Dhabi developer plans to leverage its expertise and balance sheet to support London Square’s land acquisition strategy to develop larger prime central London sites. Additionally, […] December 1, 2023
Real Estate Saudi property prices hold up despite drop in sales The Saudi residential property market is beginning to take a hit from the economic slowdown caused by the kingdom’s oil production cuts. Yet according to figures published by real estate consultancy CBRE, prices remain resilient in the face of a fall-off in third quarter sales. A total 61,473 transactions took place in the third quarter, […] November 28, 2023
Real Estate London’s suburban real estate moves Middle East investors While central London property retains its allure for ultra-high-net-worth individuals from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, cash buyers are flocking to the outskirts of the UK capital to snap up investment properties. A survey of GCC high-net-worth individuals by London-based shariah-compliant lender Al Rayan Bank found that a third of respondents said they had […] November 28, 2023
Real Estate PIF expects $1trn real estate spending over next decade Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) says it intends to invest SAR4 trillion ($1.1 trillion) in the real estate sector over the next 10 years, mainly developing 12 cities as part of the Saudi Downtown project. The Saudi Downtown Company was established in 2022 as a fully owned subsidiary of the PIF to develop city […] November 27, 2023
Real Estate Abu Dhabi real estate deals soar to new high of $18.5bn Real estate transactions in Abu Dhabi hit a new high of AED 67.76 billion ($18.45 billion) in the first nine months of 2023, propelled by rising demand from local and international investors. Buying, selling and mortgage activities across the real estate sector rose 56 percent year on year, Abu Dhabi Media Office reported, citing data […] November 27, 2023
Construction PIF unit launches $354m entertainment centre in Aseer Seven, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has launched its fifth entertainment destination in Saudi Arabia. The SAR1.3 billion ($353.96 million) project near Abha International Airport will cover a land area of 64,000 sq m with a built-up area of more than 79,000 sq m. The architecture, designed by California-based firm Gensler, […] November 27, 2023
INTERVIEW Real Estate UAE buyers help ex-England footballer hit property goals The former Manchester United and England footballer Gary Neville has revealed that one in five properties in his luxury residential development have been snapped up by UAE investors. Neville, a Champions League-winning defender turned entrepreneur, visited the Emirates this week to gauge Middle Eastern interest in his £400 million ($501 million) hotel and apartment project […] November 26, 2023
Real Estate Foreign HQs drive Riyadh rent growth to record highs A rush of international companies to set up regional headquarters in Riyadh is driving record increases in commercial property rents, latest figures reveal. Prime rents in the Saudi capital rose by almost 24 percent in the year to Q3, according to CBRE, with rents currently at SAR2,617 ($712) per sq m. Observers say Saudi Arabia’s […] November 23, 2023
Analysis Real Estate Investors favour Emaar for Dubai property returns Dubai’s residential property sector rebound has reaped huge profits for the emirate’s developers and landlords. Yet for equity traders, there is really only one investible conglomerate: Emaar Properties and its subsidiary, Emaar Development. There has been upheaval among second-tier developers listed on Dubai’s bourse, while the other major players, such as Nakheel, Dubai Properties and […] November 22, 2023
Real Estate Turkish house sales drop 14% as prices double House sales in Turkey during the first 10 months of 2023 were down by 14.3 percent year on year to just under 1 million, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute. Pressure on Turkey’s housing market has been exacerbated by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, high inflation and an influx of displaced people from the […] November 21, 2023
Real Estate Saudi-backed Oryx plans logistics centre in UK Oryx Real Estate Partners, a UK-based investment and asset manager, has acquired a five-acre development site in Milton Keynes on behalf of a consortium of GCC family offices, mainly from Saudi Arabia. The company, whose chairman and co-founder Fawaz Al Rahji is also chairman of Saudi family office Al Rahji Partners, plans to invest between […] November 16, 2023
Real Estate Qatar to invest $1.5bn in Egypt’s industrial sector Qatar will invest $1.5 billion in Egypt’s industrial sector in 2024, according to Egyptian commercial service chief Yahya Al-Wathiq Billah. This is the first investment by the Gulf nation in Egypt since signing a bilateral agreement in March 2022, Egypt Today newspaper reported. Billah said that trade volume between the countries increased by 47 percent […] November 16, 2023
Analysis Real Estate Dubai real estate faces price drop of up to 10%, says S&P Dubai’s real estate market is poised for a 5 to 10 percent slump in prices in the next 12 to 18 months, an analyst said on Wednesday. The shift in the market – an important driver of the emirate’s economy – will be driven by imbalances in supply and demand, according to Tatjana Lescova, associate […] November 15, 2023
Construction Deyaar plans new launches as profit rises three-fold Deyaar Development, majority-owned by Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), reported a nearly three-fold rise in net profit for the third quarter on new project launches amid a recovery in the emirate’s real estate market. Net profit for the three-month period reached AED119 million ($32.41 million), compared to AED36.35 million a year earlier, the developer said in […] November 15, 2023
Real Estate Emaar earnings jump 42% on back of real estate demand Shares in Emaar Properties were up 4.4 percent in trading on Friday off the back of strong financial results announced for the first nine months of the year. Dubai’s largest developer reported a 42 percent year-on-year increase in profit on higher property sales and a surge in real estate demand. The developer’s nine-month net earnings […] November 10, 2023
Real Estate Seera Group invests $160m in Riyadh business park Saudi travel major Seera Group plans to invest SAR600 million ($160 million) in a real estate fund to finance the development of a new business park in Riyadh. Seera will be the primary investor in the Sharia-compliant fund with the aim of developing the Kayanat Central Business Park in the north of the Saudi capital. […] November 9, 2023
