NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL

Property prices rise in capital and Dubai

ABU DHABI/DUBAI - JUNE 10: Property prices have begun to rise again in parts of Abu Dhabi and Dubai after a nine-month fall, brokers and bankers say.

“The availability is suddenly a lot less in the last three to four weeks and we are seeing a dramatic increase in demand,” said Andrew Covill, the head of investment sales at LLJ Property.

The signs of recovery apply to completed and nearly completed property only, but have nonetheless surprised some market watchers. A report commissioned by Better Homes, one of the country’s largest real estate brokers, just six weeks ago predicted prices would keep falling until the end of the year, and only recover in 2011.

The new movement also follows the thawing of credit markets, a sharp rally in regional stock markets and a doubling in oil prices over the past six months.

“After a fall of 30-40 per cent, the first signs of stabilisation in Dubai’s property sector have appeared, taking observers by surprise since further declines were expected,” said Philippe Dauba-Pantanacc, a senior economist at Standard Chartered Bank.

Prices for near-complete property in Al Reem and Raha Beach in Abu Dhabi, for example, have risen by 10 per cent compared to last month, while villas in Al Reef were up by five to seven per cent.

In Dubai, the price of homes in The Springs, Jumeirah Village, The Greens, The Green Community and Jumeirah Islands have risen from their lows in January by between five and 30 per cent, according to Cluttons, an estate agency. “The properties under Dh2 million [US$540,000] seem to have gone up a bit, but not the top end,” said Ron Hinchey, a resident partner at Cluttons. “It’s like any market: the cheaper you get, the more people who can buy in that market.”

Prices for some properties in Dubai fell by up to half between September last year and January as distressed sellers without adequate financing drove asking prices down to get out of the market.

But now the amount of heavily discounted property has dropped sharply.

In its latest report on the property market, HSBC reported prices in Dubai rising four per cent in April compared to the previous month and another five per cent in May. The price of flats, which account for 85 per cent of transactions, rose by nine per cent last month, but villas fell by 11 per cent, it said.

However, prices were on average still 23 per cent below their September peak.

“Market data from April and May show a range of positive indicators,” said David Lepper of HSBC Global Research.

“Agreed property sale prices are rising, volumes are holding up well, and banks have loosened their lending criteria.

“However, we will not be able to discern a sustainable trend until later in 2009,” he added.

“While we note these positive developments, the market as a whole is coming off a very low base, given the sharp declines since the market peak.

“Credit growth remains subdued, and the UAE economy still has challenges to deal with.”

Brokers added, however, that the off-plan market was still seeing almost no trade, as investors had lost confidence in many developers. Demand was mostly from people who needed to move in immediately or were expecting good rental yields, they said.

Some brokers cautioned the recent rises could only be temporary.

“I don’t think the bottom has hit,” said Iseeb Rehman, managing director of Sherwoods, the brokers.

“We are entering a quiet period of summer and Ramadan where transactions are generally very limited.

“But at least the bottom is in sight and we know where it is, whereas in February nobody really had any idea. We expect to really feel the bottom in the fourth quarter.”

Standard Chartered said one of the major risks for the market in the coming months was the possibility of many people leaving the country having lost their jobs.

If the rises do continue, it may be partly down to easier credit.

At the height of the credit crunch, last autumn, some banks would only lend 65 per cent of a property’s value for a mortgage; that figure is now back up to between 80 and 90 per cent for a number of them.

Mr Hinchey said his company had compiled around 100 mortgage valuations in May, compared to 40 in January, a further indication of more activity in the market.

Deadliest dash in Abu Dhabi

 
Pedestrians crossing the road in Musaffah are faced with crossing 10 lanes of traffic or walking hundreds of metres to traffic lights.

MUSAFFAH (ABU DHABI) - JUNE 10: Eric Mabale’s journey to worship on Sundays requires a considerable amount of faith.

To hail a taxi to Abu Dhabi after he finishes work as a car mechanic, Mr Mabale, 27, must sprint across 10 lanes of heavy, high-speed traffic heading either towards the motorways for Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Tarif or into the Musaffah industrial area.

“It is very hard. Very dangerous,” the Filipino said after running across the road.

Yet during morning and evening rush hours, residents line the road and wait, sometimes for more than five minutes, for a break in a steady stream of vehicles.

They then scurry across the first five lanes to the median, cut through some shrubbery, and, if they are fortunate, bolt safely across the remaining five lanes.

Mr Mabale is not alone in his worry of crossing the motorway, called “bank street” by residents. Police say it is the “number one hot spot” for accidents and another Abu Dhabi road in desperate need of footbridges that provide a safe crossing.

Pedestrian bridges are planned for the area along the Abu Dhabi-Musaffah-Tarif Road as part of 14 such structures authorities said should be built in Abu Dhabi by next summer.

They will be air-conditioned and include lifts, according to Abdullah al Shamsi, director of roads and infrastructure for Abu Dhabi Municipality.

The “bank street” is not scheduled to get a bridge, according to a map released by the municipality during the Abu Dhabi Cityscape Exhibition in April. Mr al Shamsi could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The road is lined by banks and money exchanges, car repair shops, restaurants and a post office, providing plenty of reasons for pedestrians to cross. Yet the traffic signal nearest to the cluster of businesses is hundreds of metres away.

Most pedestrians choose to make the dangerous dash, sometimes in groups of seven or eight. Some lose the gamble and pay with their lives, according to police and first-hand accounts. No statistics specific to that stretch of road were available, but 26 people were killed crossing roads in Abu Dhabi in the first 71 days of this year, according to an official tally.

“I have seen too many [people] hit by cars here,” Mr Mabale said. “Injured and sometimes dead.”

Ashraf, from Kerala, who washes cars for a living, said he had seen the remains of unfortunate pedestrians struck down on the road. The posted limit is 60kph but cars were clocked by The National’s radar travelling about 100kph.

“I see an Egyptian guy, two pieces,” said Ashraf, 35. “One time, a cyclist, same like that.”

He said he had to cross the road daily to get to and from his job. Mr Mabale, meanwhile, said he must cross it sometimes up to six times a day to purchase parts for his shop.

Meanwhile, Kanwal Suleman, 28, who works at the Al Falah Exchange on the Musaffah-bound side of the road, said he had just weaved through traffic to deposit some cash at the Dubai Islamic Bank on behalf of his employer.

“I think they must build two over-bridges, because the signal is very far,” he said. “A person who is coming from that side, he has to walk almost 30 minutes to go to the signal.”

Capt Adel Mahmound, manager of traffic and patrolling in Musaffah, agreed that pedestrian walkways were needed for the road, as well as the bridge near the Emirates Driving School and on the motorway near the Delma Mall and a Carrefour, where Capt Mahmound said a pedestrian was struck on Sunday. He said pedestrians were hit every day in Musaffah and that the “banks area” is the “hottest spot” for vehicle-pedestrian accidents.

He said his department had proposed pedestrian flyovers.

“We know the road engineering department has plans to build them, but they are starting with Abu Dhabi,” he said. “We don’t know when it will be our turn.”

In the meantime, Capt Mahmound said, police relied on campaigns against jaywalkers to educate pedestrians about the dangers of crossing the road.

Police have handed out 757 Dh200 (US$54) fines to jaywalkers this year and will launch another campaign next week that will run throughout the summer.

Drivers said the pedestrians running in front of their vehicles were a major concern.

Police “are giving [pedestrians] fines for crossing the road, and the very next day they are crossing the road again”, said Murad Ali, a taxi driver from Pakistan. “This is a dangerous area in Musaffah.”

Compulsory breast cancer scans should be UAE-wide, says minister

ABU DHABI - JUNE 10:A minister has called for compulsory breast cancer scans for Emirati women to be extended nationwide.

Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the Minister for Foreign Trade, gave her backing to the scheme, announced this week by the Health Authority–Abu Dhabi (HAAD), under which women aged between 40 and 69 will be required to have a mammogram to have their Thiqa health insurance card renewed.

Speaking in Paris, where she was receiving the prestigious Légion d’honneur from the French government, Sheikha Lubna said more women needed to be pushed to have the scans. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the Emirates, where 44 per cent of the cases are fatal, according to HAAD.

“Some women do mammograms as they know it is essential for their health,” she said. “However, there are many women who are not well enough informed or are scared of the thought of doing mammograms and it is important that they be pushed.”

Sheikha Lubna regularly campaigns to raise awareness about breast cancer in the UAE, even publicising her own mammogram two years ago.

The Legion of Honour dates back to the time of Napoleon and is granted to figures of political and artistic importance. Recent recipients including Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian politician who was held hostage by rebels in South America for six years, and JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books.

Sheikha Lubna is the first woman from the Gulf region to receive the honour, which was presented by Christine Lagarde, the French minister of economy and industry, on behalf of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy. The ceremony on Monday was attended by Emirati and French officials, dignitaries and diplomats, according to WAM, the state news agency.

Sheikha Lubna was chosen because she was the first woman in the Gulf to take on a ministerial position, serving as minister of economy before taking over her present role.

“The order is a tribute to the women in the UAE for her leading role under the unlimited support of the country’s leadership and its care for advancement and empowerment of women,” said Ms Lagard.

A member of Sharjah’s ruling family, Sheikha Lubna obtained a bachelor’s degree in the US and an executive MBA from the American University of Sharjah before going on to create Tejari, an online marketplace used throughout much of the Middle East.

She has received a number of awards for her accomplishments as a woman in business and was appointed to her first ministerial role in 2004.