NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL
Rents in Abu Dhabi ‘to fall by 20%’ as 20,000 homes arrive
Construction in Mohammed bin Zayed City, part of an estimated 20,000 new homes arriving in the capital. Rich - The National
ABU DHABI - APR 15: Almost 20,000 new homes will become available in the capital by the end of the year, helping to drive down prices and halt the exodus to Dubai, housing analysts said yesterday.
About 15,000 apartments and 3,800 villas are expected to enter the market across the capital, according to a report by Asteco, the UAE’s largest property services company. Some experts predicted that could push rents down by up to a fifth.
That could be enough for some who work in the capital but have moved to Dubai for the cheaper, better accommodation to consider moving back.
Much of the housing will be based in Reem Island, Al Raha and Al Reef areas, where property can be bought by expatriates and Emiratis, unlike on Abu Dhabi Island, where only UAE nationals can buy.
However, John Allen, Asteco’s director of research, consultancy and valuations, warned that falling prices might not help those at the bottom of the market.
“There is a shortage of affordable quality housing, hence people are living outside the emirate and commuting,” he said. “The new supply in the investment areas” – Reem, Al Raha and Al Reef – “are not necessarily addressing the affordability end of the market.
“People living in areas such as Dubai Marina or Discovery Gardens in Dubai are paying almost half the rent they would pay in Abu Dhabi, with the additional benefit of having good facilities and amenities.”
Mr Allen said the new supply would not necessarily translate into lower rents, because the better apartments would still be the most sought after.
Tenants were more likely to move into better but similarly priced accommodation.
However, Jesse Downs, the director of research and advisory services at Landmark Advisory, a division of the estate agency Landmark Properties, was more optimistic.
Foreign owners, she said, were likely to be more flexible on rents because they had different financial obligations to locals.
“Rents in the capital are coming down over the past year and will continue to come down,” she added. “We expect the drop to be between 10 and 20 per cent, depending on a number of factors.
“It will depend on the number of units that are actually delivered. Not all the units will be delivered on time.
“Landlord behaviour will also be a factor. How many of the units will end up on the leasing market and how many have been bought so that the owners can live in them themselves.
“There is still an undersupply in Abu Dhabi, particularly in high-quality apartments.”
She added that most of the new properties would have the kind of amenities – swimming pools, gyms and health spas, for example – that are common in Dubai but less prevalent in the capital.
“That will also prove to be a big draw. We expect to see relocations from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, although that will be mostly in the middle to high-income sector.”
Mr Allen expected landlords to revise their rental expectations once the new stock was available.
“Units have generally been leasing slowly due to a mismatch between landlords’ rental expectations and those of prospective tenants.
“Once the new supply enters the market, especially in the investment area, the rental gap between the landlords’ expectation and the tenants’ will narrow.
“Landlords in the investment areas will need to pay back their mortgages and, therefore, would be more willing to negotiate reasonable rents.
“Landlords in the non-investment areas will eventually feel the pressure of the rental rates and will be forced to lower their rents, making the market more competitive.”
From November last year the first expatriate-owned properties in Abu Dhabi were handed over to buyers in the Al Reef district. Zeina Amer, 26, a graphic designer originally from Jordan who has lived in Abu Dhabi for more than a decade, said the new housing could not come too soon.
“I have been looking for a one-bedroom place for about a month but the prices are just so high.
“Ideally, I want to pay about Dh40,000 but obviously there is nothing for that. All the places that I like are around Dh120,000 but there is no way I am going to pay that much.
“I have seen about 30 apartments but nothing that I like and which is in my budget.”
The managing director of the yacht company Belevari Marine LLC, Berend Lens van Rijn, added: “You can get a beautiful penthouse apartment in Marble Arch for around £5,000 (Dh28,300) per month and be in one of the best locations in London. Here you are asked to pay the same amount for a badly constructed villa in a noisy area. It’s just not right.
“I certainly hope the new properties will mean a reduction in rents and mean that more people will come back from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.”
Four sentenced to death for rape and murder
SHARJAH - APR 15: A killer who escaped a firing squad six years ago when his victim’s father forgave him was sentenced to death again yesterday for another murder.
AM was among four men convicted of the rape and murder of an Ethiopian housemaid in what police said was one of the most serious crimes they had investigated.
The Sharjah Court of First Instance issued the death penalty to AM, 35, SR, 32, HA, 33, and AJ, 30, all Emiratis.
The four defendants in what has became known locally as the “Al Dhaid murder” kidnapped the Ethiopian maid in Khor Fakkan in August last year.
The court’s three-judge panel heard that they taped her mouth shut and pushed her into their sport utility vehicle before driving her into the desert. They first raped her in Khor Fakkan before putting her back in the vehicle and driving her to the mountains near Al Dhaid, a farming town in Sharjah’s central district. There they raped her a second time.
Prosecutors said the men then ran their SUV over her head and battered her with rocks before attempting to hide her body.
Their sentencing had been adjourned several times.
Six years ago, AM and an accomplice were standing in front of a firing squad when the Pakistani girl’s father, an imam, forgave them for raping and killing his daughter.
The Federal Supreme Court had sentenced AM and another Emirati man to death after hearing how they snatched the girl from outside her house, bound and gagged her, and raped her. They then drove her to Masafi where they dumped her, unconscious, under a bridge.
Her body was found nine days later by goat herders.
Under UAE law, a death sentence is overturned if the victim’s family pardons the condemned person.
The imam was quoted in media reports at the time as saying both the spared men promised him they would devote the rest of their lives to serving God. After their reprieve, the men were returned to jail, but it is unclear when they were released.
AM and his three accomplices in the murder of the housemaid could be spared after evidence is reviewed by appeal judges.
Cases involving capital punishment automatically go to appeal.
Rain, wind … and it’ll be a wet weekend
ABU DHABI - APR 15: Winds of up to 60kph blew across western parts of the country yesterday, with more of the same predicted for today.
“We have a small scale of low pressure, causing the wind to accelerate at times,” said a forecaster at the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS).
The NCMS forecast cloudy weather with a chance of light rain over scattered areas today.
Some areas have seen light rain in the past two days.
Seas could become rough at times with wave heights of almost three metres offshore.
It will be cloudy until Saturday with a possibility of a few drops of rain over the weekend, said Warda al Yasei, the duty forecaster at the meteorological forecast office at Abu Dhabi airport.
“We have observed lots of medium and high level clouds moving overhead and there is a chance of thunderstorms and rain over the west of the UAE and the Gulf waters,” she said. “It will be slightly cooler today and until the weekend.”
The minimum temperature will be mid to upper 20s, while the maximum will be in the low 30s.
“It will not be comfortable for any outdoor activities,” said Ms Yasei. “Over the weekend, we expect light rain in some places.”
Deadly tyres warning from police
ABU DHABI - APR 15: Seven people have been killed so far this year in car crashes caused by tyre blowouts, police said yesterday, warning drivers to check their tyres for deadly wear and tear.
The figures – which showed there has already been three more deaths from such accidents than in the first six months of 2009 – were released at the end of a three-day safety campaign that saw 1,000 cars inspected by police patrols and tyre experts.
First Lt Hamdan Thaiban, of the Abu Dhabi traffic police media communications department, said that with summer approaching many tyres will wear out because of the heat.