Dubai Is Coming Back!

I think the worst has passed for Dubai. I think the downtrend in the real estate market is finally over and we are at the beginning of a new five to ten year upward cycle. I am seeing more and more interest and investment in Dubai real estate. Mega Projects which had been put on hold are being started up again and new Mega Projects are being announced, the most recent being the underwater Discus Hotel.

What I will give you now are excerpts of recent articles relating to the positive direction of the Dubai real estate sector. Each excerpt has a link to the complete article which you can read at your leisure.

> DPG PLANS TO GO AHEAD WITH ALL MEGA PROJECTS

Khaleej Times:

Signaling the beginning of Dubai's property sector's long awaited revival, a leading master developer said on Tuesday that it would go ahead with all its mega projects that have been stalled or delayed amid the financial meltdown.

Dubai Properties Group, or DPG, a pioneering community developer, said it would complete all projects it had announced as it saw a reemergence of investor confidence restoring vibrancy in the property market.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/biz/inside.asp?xfile=/data/uaebusiness/2012/May/uaebusiness_May47.xml&section=uaebusiness

> 291 PROJECTS ON HOLD LIKELY TO QUALIFY FOR RESTART

Emirates 24/7:

A total of 291 projects are on hold in Dubai as of March 31, 2012 – but are likely to see the light of day.

Each of these 291 registered projects are likely to qualify for either the Tayseer or the Tanmia initiative, the Dubai Land Department (DLD) has stated in the planned sovereign bond prospectus.

This year, as per the prospectus, the Tanmia initiative is expected to include 33 projects, two of which have been launched. The initiative is designed to increase investor confidence in those projects, which the Dubai Land Department has identified as qualifying for the Tanmia program.

http://www.emirates247.com/property/real-estate/291-projects-on-hold-likely-to-qualify-for-restart-2012-04-26-1.455779

> THE REAL ESTATE BOOM IS BACK TO DUBAI

Dubai Chronicle:

Nakheel sold 21 townhouses for a total of Dh159 million in Palma Residences, Palm Jumeirah, on the first day of sales opening.

"We were just expecting people to come and gather information, but we managed to sell properties on day one itself," commented Nakheel's Chairman Ali Rashid Lootah.

http://www.dubaichronicle.com/2012/04/03/real-estate-boom-dubai/

> DUBAI'S EMAAR POSTS 44% RISE IN Q1 PROFIT

ArabianBusiness.com:

Dubai's Emaar Properties, builder of the world's tallest tower, reported a 44 percent rise in first-quarter net operating profit on Saturday on increased property sales in Dubai and strong revenue from shopping malls business.

The UAE's largest developer by market value made a net operating profit of AED606m ($165m), compared to AED421m during the same period last year, it said in an emailed statement.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/dubai-s-emaar-posts-44-rise-in-q1-profit-455631.html

> NAKHEEL SCOOPS US$23.6M FROM PALM LAND SALE

ArabianBusiness.com:

Dubai’s Nakheel has sold a 60,000 sq ft plot of land on its flagship development, the Palm Jumeirah, for AED87m (US$23.6m), the firm said Tuesday.

The sale of the land, opposite the Atlantis, The Palm hotel, is a sign of “renewed investor confidence in Dubai real estate,” the government-owned developer said in a statement.

“We have seen a very healthy demand in the first quarter of 2012, and this looks set to continue for the year,” a Nakheel spokesperson said.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/nakheel-scoops-us-23-6m-from-palm-land-sale-454315.html

> LET'S FORGET ABOUT 2008, URGES NAKHEEL CHAIRMAN

ArabianBusiness.com:

“We (Nakheel) achieved profit of AED1.28bn (US$348.5m)… It has been a good year. We have been doing fantastic across the board, across all of our areas… It is a big sign of the recovery of the market,” he says.

“We see the demand for our properties increase and I can also assure you that 2012, from the early figures we have, is going to be even much better.”

That is partly because, according to Lootah himself, Nakheel has managed to slash contractors’ claims down to just fifteen percent. Within a few short years, Lootah has turned the company around and brought it through a painful restructuring process.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/-let-s-forget-about-2008-urges-nakheel-chairman-455513.html

> DUBAI DEAL ON UNDERWATER HOTELS AND FLOATING CITIES

Chicago Tribune:

Dubai is all set to open newer horizons in the tourism and hospitality sector with a novel initiative to develop underwater hotels.

Drydocks World, the shipbuilding arm of Dubai World, said on Wednesday it has signed a deal with Big Invest Consult, a Swiss company, to develop underwater hotels and floating cities.

The hotel, featuring a discus-shaped residential underwater building connected to another discus above water, will be funded by BIG Invest. The project envisages "an ultimate leisure facility with a structure that is partly above water and the rest underneath -- a residential Underwater Discus with an Above Water Discus", the company said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-mct-dubai-deal-on-underwater-hotels-and-floating-20120503,0,938001.story

> PALM JUMEIRAH FROND N PROJECT

ArabianBusiness.com:

One of the latest developments at Palm Jumeirah is master developer Nakheel issuing a tender for infrastructure works on Frond ‘N’. It has invited suitably-qualified contractors, licensed by Dubai’s Department of Economic Development, to bid for Tender No. N-006-4-60.

The project comprises: roads, parking, driveways and sidewalks; street lighting, stormwater drainage network; vacuum sewerage; ancillary control and monitoring system; irrigation water system and fire hydrants; utility road crossings: potable water system, electrical network; telecoms network and LPG gas house connections. The closing date for bids from interested contractors is 4 March.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/palm-jumeirah-frond-n-project-445719.html

++ I predict that over the next five years we will see a new real estate boom emerge in Dubai and that Dubai will once again be one of the most appealing locations in the world for real estate investment and development. Time will tell if I am correct or not.