UAE should be concerned about property flipping, says Emaar chairman

Flipping - where speculators buy unfinished properties and sell them on to third-parties within a short time - was in part blamed for the extent of the housing market crisis in 2008 Adam Bouyamourn April 26, 2014 Updated: April 26, 2014 18:45:00 Save this article The Emaar chairman, Mohammed Alabbar, has warned about off-plan sales as the Government and other developers take steps to reduce speculation on property prices. Related ■ Aldar introduces strict resale restrictions as it reveals new Abu Dhabi housing projects ■ Dubai is ready for a ‘smarter’ boom this time around ■ Emaar to launch new phase of Mira Oasis townhouses in Dubai Emaar Properties unit listing proposal will take precision planning In pictures: Emaar’s major developments in the UAE Topic Emaar, “We need to learn from the mistakes of the past,” Mr Alabbar said at Emaar’s annual general meeting last week in Dubai. “We need to be concerned about flipping.” Flipping was in part blamed for the extent of the housing market crisis in 2008 – when speculators bought unfinished properties and sold them on to third parties within a short time, inflating property prices. Mr Alabbar’s comments followed news that the Abu Dhabi-based Aldar has introduced resale restrictions on new properties, designed to curb speculative flipping. Buyers must now pay 50 per cent of the property’s value before they can sell it on. The Central Bank has introduced caps on the amount individuals may borrow to finance the purchase of houses for the first time in the country’s history. Home loans have been capped at between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of a property’s value, while loans on unfinished properties have been capped at 50 per cent. Property experts warned against generous payment plans that allow buyers to defer paying the bulk of the cost of a new home until years after completion, in some cases. “Can you stop it? No.” Mr Alabbar said about flipping. “We try to minimise it.” abouyamourn@thenational.ae Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/business/industry-insights/property/uae-should-be-concerned-about-property-flipping-says-emaar-chairman#ixzz3054y9B8z Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook === No win situation for Abu Dhabi tenant given 105% rent hike Property expert Mario Volpi explains what can and can't be done with rental laws differing in the capital to those in Dubai. Mario Volpi April 30, 2014 Updated: April 30, 2014 13:53:00 Save this article Related In pictures: Where Abu Dhabi rents have risen and fallen, Q1 2014 In pictures: Where Dubai rents have risen and fallen, Q1 2014 ■ Abu Dhabi rent increase rules differ from those in Dubai ■ New legal centre to settle rent disputes in Dubai More frequent rent cheques would cut fraud Topic Rent, The Life, Homefront, I have lived in an Abu Dhabi building since 2007. Every year we have had a rental increase of 5 per cent at the renewal of the lease agreement. Currently the rent is Dh25,806. The lease agreement is expiring on August 23. Now I have received a notification informing me that the new rent will be Dh53,000 – which is a 105 per cent hike. I understand that this increase is due to the 5 per cent yearly increase cap being taken away but I would like to know, as per the law in the UAE, if there is any limit on the increase a landlord can demand. TT, Abu Dhabi Before the abolition of the rental cap, the emirate of Abu Dhabi had strict laws limiting the amount a landlord could raise the rent annually and this was maximum 5 per cent of the annual rent. Your landlord is entitled to raise the rent for this year as he sees fit. There is no limit of increase imposed on landlords any more. The Government has allowed this to help landlords achieve market rent, especially for those investors who historically were receiving very low rents. It appears that your landlord does not care whether you will stay or decide to vacate the property because of the outrageous increase. This being the case, I suppose that the landlord is maximising his position and if he gets away with it, he will be happy as he will be getting a substantial amount more for his rent. If you do leave, I guess that another tenant may be found relatively quickly. Either way you will end up being on the losing side. I would like to buy a property in Dubai with finance and I have some questions: 1. Does the buyer need to issue the security cheque (10 per cent of property price) prior to seeing the Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU) from seller? Or should that be at the same time for the buyer’s safety? 2. Whose name should be the receiver name in the cheque? Should it be the seller or the property agent? I was told by the agent that I should write the cheque with the name of their company. Is it appropriate procedure in Dubai? Frankly I don’t feel safe to put the agent’s name rather than the seller. How can I protect myself from he possible misuse of the cheque by the agent or seller? 3. Regarding the MoU, is there any liability for the seller if he/she turns down the deal after receiving my cheque? Can I put that in place? 4. How do I know whether the agent company is licensed as well as the agent? AL, Dubai Good practise for a buyer would be to produce the 10 per cent cheque before an MoU is signed, but it is normally handed over on the signing of the agreement. Under Rera rules the 10 per cent deposit should be in the name of the seller only. The agent should be holding this cheque as custodian only and it is normally handed back to the buyer on the day of transfer to be replaced by a manager’s cheque for the equivalent amount or full sale amount. The sale price can be confirmed only when all parties have signed and the buyer has lodged the deposit with the agent. If you have signed and paid the deposit to the agent but the seller did not sign then subsequently changed his mind, the deal would be null and void and you would get your deposit back. All companies and their agents should be Rera-registered. You can check this by visiting the land department website www.dubailand.gov.ae Always ask to see the company’s trade licence too to check that it is fully compliant and legitimate. Mario Volpi is the managing director of Prestige Real Estate in Dubai (prestigedubai.com). He has 30 years of property industry experience in the emirate and London. Send any questions to mario@prestigedubai.com The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only. Readers are encouraged to seek appropriate independent legal advice Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/business/industry-insights/the-life/no-win-situation-for-abu-dhabi-tenant-given-105-rent-hike#ixzz30Mk0BpzZ Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook ====

UPDATE 1-Petrofac JV wins $2.9 bln share of Abu Dhabi contract

UPDATE 1-Petrofac JV wins $2.9 bln share of Abu Dhabi contract Thu, Apr 11 07:47 AM EDT LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) - British oil services firm Petrofac said on Thursday its joint venture with Mubadala Petroleum won a $2.9 billion share of a contract to build facilities on an oil field in Abu Dhabi, lifting its shares. Petrofac's investors have been impatient to see it win new contracts after the company caused concerns in February by deviating from a usual practice of providing a specific annual profit targets. Shares in FTSE 100 constituent Petrofac, which have fallen 14 percent in the last three months, climbed 1.75 percent to 1,455.5 pence in midday training. Numis analyst Sanjeev Bahl said the joint venture contract win was worth about $1.45 billion to Petrofac itself, and was positive news for the company. "It helps derisk consensus forecasts. We still think they need another $5 billion or so (of contract wins) this year," he said. Petrofac, which designs and builds oil and gas infrastructure and also invests alongside oil firms in oil fields, earlier in April won another contract in Abu Dhabi worth $500 million. The company said in February it was seeing a strong pipeline of bidding opportunities meaning it would deliver "good growth" in net profit this year and adding to its confidence in meeting a 2015 earnings target. ======== UPDATE 1-Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala swings back into profit Thu, Apr 11 06:10 AM EDT * 2012 net profit 455 mln dhs VS 3.2 bln dhs loss in 2011 * Revenues up 12 pct in 2012 to 31.3 bln dirhams * 2012 financial investments losses more than half (Adds asset value performance, debt prices,) ABU DHABI, April 11 (Reuters) - Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi investment fund with a mandate to boost the emirate's local economy, swung to a net profit in 2012, helped by improved margins at some of its core businesses and lower impairments, it said on Thursday. Oil-rich Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates is investing billions of dollars in industry, tourism and infrastructure locally as well as overseas through state-backed entities such as Mubadala. However, earlier this month Mubadala signed a $2 billion loan refinancing with banks to replace a $2.5 billion loan agreed in 2010 [ID: nL5N0CQ2U7] Spreads on Mubadala bonds widened slightly on Thursday with the $500 million 7.625 percent bond maturing 2019 bid at 128.5 cents to the dollar to yield 2.520, compared with 2.515 on Wednesday. A $750 million 5.5 percent bond < AE061920099=> maturing 2021 was bid at 117.5 cents to the dollar to yield 3.03 percent, compared with 2.962 percent on Wednesday. The fund made a profit of 455 million dirhams ($124 million) in 2012, compared with a loss of 3.2 billion dirhams in 2011, when it booked heavy impairments on its financial portfolio. The fund, which has a local joint venture with General Electric and interests in the semiconductor, oil and gas, aerospace and real estate sectors in the region, increased its revenue by 12 percent last year to 31.3 billion dirhams, boosted, it said, by higher semiconductor sales and land sales. Losses from financial investments fell to 1.43 billion dirhams last year after a loss of 3.03 billion dirhams in 2011, while impairments on the fund's property portfolio dropped to 585.7 million dirhams from 653 million dirhams. "Our 2012 financial performance is a reflection of how we manage our portfolio, with certain key assets and projects reaching further maturity and improved market conditions positively impacting the value of many of our financial investments," said Chief Executive Khaldoon al Mubarak. Mubadala's total assets stood at 202.8 billion dirhams ($55.22 billion) at the end of the 2012, up from 177.1 billion dirhams a year ago. Mubadala, one of few state-controlled vehicles to publish results, also owns stakes in listed local companies such as Tabreed and indebted developer Aldar Properties which received shareholder approval for a merger with rival Sorouh Real Estate in March. ($1=3.6727 UAE dirhams) (Reporting by Stanley Carvalho; Editing by Dinesh Nair and Greg Mahlich) ================== Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala swings to 2012 profit on lower impairments Thu, Apr 11 05:01 AM EDT ABU DHABI, April 11 (Reuters) - Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi investment fund with a mandate to boost the emirate's local economy, swung to a net profit in 2012, helped by improved margins at some of its core businesses and lower impairments. Mubadala, which has stakes in General Electric and private equity firm Carlyle, made a profit of 455 million dirhams ($123.88 million) for 2012, compared with a loss of 3.2 billion dirhams in 2011 when it booked heavy impairments on its financial portfolio. Unlike other regional sovereign wealth funds like Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) or Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Mubadala's main goal is to engage in investments which enhance development of the local economy, a theme which has gained greater consensus since the wake of the Arab spring. The fund has interests in semiconductors, oil and gas, aerospace and real estate among others. Revenue for the year increased 12 percent to 31.3 billion dirhams from 27.9 billion dirhams in 2011, Mubadala said in a statement on Thursday. It attributed the rise in revenues to higher sale of semiconductors and revenue from land sales. Losses from financial investments fell to 1.43 billion dirhams in 2012, compared with a loss of 3.03 billion dirhams in 2011, Mubadala said. Impairment losses on the fund's property portfolio dropped to 585.7 million dirhams from 653 million dirhams for 2011. Mubadala, one of few state-controlled vehicles to publish results, also owns stakes in local companies such as Tabreed and indebted developer Aldar Properties which received shareholder approval for a merger with rival Sorouh Real Estate in March. ($1 = 3.6730 UAE dirhams) (Reporting by Stanley Carvalho; Editing by Dinesh Nair) =================