(LONDON) Government-owned Dubai property company Limitless has launched syndication of a US $1.2 billion, two-year Islamic loan, which will be used to finance international projects, the borrower announced. A bank meeting was held on Sunday in Dubai and further roadshows will be held in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and London, the company said, adding that Emirates […]
Archive | International Property News – Middle East RSS feed for this archive
Banyan Tree to manage resorts in Omani IR devt
BANYAN Tree has signed a management contract with Jabal Resorts LLC for the development of two resorts within one of the largest integrated resort (IR) developments in Sifah, Oman. The Banyan Tree and Angsana resorts are positioned as the anchor properties in the 650 hectare property which will include over five hotels, more than 450 […]
Dubai World’s Limitless sets up office here
S’pore base will look for investments in the region DUBAI World’s real estate arm, Limitless LLC, officially started operations at it new regional office here at UOB Plaza yesterday. It will use Singapore as a base to look for new investment opportunities here and in the region. On route to Hanoi for the ground-breaking ceremony […]
Istithmar to transfer properties to Nakheel
Dubai’s move will create global real estate group with US$52b of projects (DUBAI) Istithmar PJSC, a Dubai government-owned private equity investor managing US$10 billion, will merge its real estate investments with Nakheel PJSC, another property company owned by its parent. ‘The nature of the real estate assets that we have will be well served by […]
DIFC eyes US property, telecom, energy assets
Investments could come after dust settles on mortgage crisis: governor (DUBAI) The Dubai government agency that bought into Deutsche Bank this year said it could invest in US banks, property and other sectors after the dust settles on a mortgage crisis that has cut asset prices. Banks that have reported losses from defaults on sub-prime, […]
Global property investment expected to fall
Mortgage defaults in US may prompt lenders to tighten credit, says JLL (TOKYO) Global direct real estate investment may fall this year as concerns about defaults on US mortgages prompted lenders to tighten credit, said Jones Lang LaSalle Inc, the world’s second-largest commercial real estate broker. Asia may be the only market to experience an […]
Dubai property market faces glut in 2008/9
Flood of completed projects will slow growth of property prices, rents: Colliers (DUBAI) Property costs in Dubai are likely to rise more slowly, or even fall, in the next two years as completed malls, offices, apartments and hotels flood the market, real estate consultancy Colliers International said. Dubai, part of the oil-exporting United Arab Emirates […]
URA to woo Mid-East investors at int’l event
It will sell S’pore as destination for real estate investments at Cityscape Dubai THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will sell Singapore as a destination for real estate investments to Middle East investors at Cityscape Dubai, an international property event. URA director of land administration Choy Chan Pong said that it was important for Singapore to […]
M-E property boom still going strong
FAZLUR RAHMAN KAMSANI and COLIN TAN say markets in GCC nations are gradually primed for another growth phase CONTRARY to perceptions in some quarters, the real estate boom in the Middle Eastern markets of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries has yet to run its full course. While it is true that these markets are […]
S’pore seeking property investments from Mid-East
SINGAPORE is wooing investments from the Middle East, as companies and individuals from the oil-rich region expand their presence in the Republic. Government bodies such as the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Singapore Tourism Board and the Building and Construction Authority have joined a host of other groups to showcase what Singapore has to offer at […]
World’s wealthy still eyeing property
They are undeterred by the market turmoil triggered by the US sub-prime crisis (GENEVA) The wealthy have lost none of their appetite for property despite the market turmoil triggered by the sale of risky sub-prime mortgages in the US, according to some of the world’s top private bankers. Clients of wealth managers are, however, on […]
Dubai to build US$11 billion waterway around downtown
(DUBAI) Dubai will spend US$11 billion on a waterway longer than the Panama Canal to encircle the downtown area and expand waterfront property available for development. Limitless LLC, a unit of government-owned Dubai World, will start building the 75-kilometre waterway in December. It will be the largest construction project by the emirate, which has undertaken […]
UAE mortgage loans soar 97% in Q2
Value of outstanding borrowings at 45.7b dirhams as of end June (DUBAI) Mortgage lending in the United Arab Emirates increased an annual 97 per cent in the second quarter as foreigners bought property in the Gulf state. Outstanding loans to buy homes rose to 45.7 billion dirhams (S$18.4 billion) at the end of June, the […]
Jumeirah to open its first European resort
(DUBAI) Jumeirah Group, the hotel management company owned by Dubai’s government, leased a property being built in Mallorca, Spain from a German real estate fund to gain its first European resort and spa. The 120-room Jumeirah Port Soller resort is held on a ‘long-term’ lease from the WestInvest Interselect fund, Jumeirah said in a statement […]
WORLD HOUSING MARKETS – Bubble trouble
By Robert J. Shiller THE future of the housing boom, together with the possible financial repercussions of a substantial price decline in the coming years, is a matter of mounting concern among governments around the world. I learnt this first-hand while attending this year’s Jackson Hole Symposium in the remote wilderness of Wyoming where, ironically, […]
KepLand in deal to develop luxury homes in Jeddah
It will hold 51% stake in the project, with an investment cost of $387.6m KEPPEL Land and Saudi Arabian wealth management company Saudi Economic and Development Co (Sedco) will invest $760 million to jointly develop about 1,000 luxury apartments in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the two companies said yesterday. KepLand will hold a 51 per cent […]
Ascott in serviced residence tie-up
(DUBAI) Ascott Group Ltd, the biggest serviced-residence operator in Asia and Europe, and a group of Middle Eastern investors have started a venture to buy and manage properties in Persian Gulf Arab states. Bahrain-based Nuzul Holding BSC has US$100 million of start-up capital from founding shareholders including Qatar’s pension fund, Barwa Real Estate Co, and […]
Dubai to build hotels and apartments in Vietnam
(DUBAI) Dubai will develop a US$220 million property in Vietnam, building hotels and luxury apartments near the beaches and limestone mountains of Halong Bay, government-owned developer Limitless said here yesterday. Limitless is part of the conglomerate that is building three palm-tree-shaped islands and an archipelago the resembles a map of the world off the coast […]
Istithmar eyes sub-prime stricken firms
(DUBAI) Dubai government-owned Istithmar is considering buying into two US companies hit by exposure to sub-prime, or high-risk, mortgages after defaults triggered a global flight to safer assets. The agency, which has bought a stake in Standard Chartered and acquired fashion retailer Barneys New York in the past year, said one of its targets was […]
Middle East Development group finalising projects,not buying land
WE refer to your Reuters report, ‘Bin Laden-linked group buying land to build cities’ (BT, Aug 30). We would like to clarify the following points: (1) The group is not ‘buying’ land to build cities as mentioned in the report but in the process of finalising the projects which are undertaken by the group’s companies […]
Kingdom Hotel to raise US$100m for expansion in Asia
(DUBAI) Kingdom Hotel Investments, the lodging chain backed by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, plans to raise US$100 million to help bolster its presence in Asia. The cash will be used to buy hotels and refinance existing properties in Asia, Sarmad Zok, chief executive officer of the Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based company, told reporters on […]
Abu Dhabi to pump 7b dirham into home, business, hotel project
(DUBAI) The Abu Dhabi Municipality will develop a residential, business and hotel complex, in partnership with private investors, that will include building 88 towers at a cost of seven billion dirham (S $2.9 billion). The Emerald Gateway project will be located between downtown Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi International Airport on a 3.5-kilometre stretch on […]
Moody’s keeps Emaar rating after swap fails
(DUBAI) Emaar Properties PJSC’s credit rating was affirmed by Moody’s Investors Service yesterday after the Middle East’s largest property developer by market value called off a proposed land-for-shares swap with state-owned Dubai Holding. Emaar’s credit rating remains at ‘A3′, the seventh-highest grade, Moody’s said. ‘We believe the government support that would be provided to Emaar, […]
UAE annual mortgage lending jumps 86% in Q1
(DUBAI) United Arab Emirates mortgage lending increased an annual 86 per cent in the first quarter as foreigners bought property in the Gulf state. Outstanding loans to buy homes rose to 42 billion dirhams (S$17.4 billion), the central bank said in its quarterly statistical bulletin published yesterday on its website. Bank lending for mortgages has […]
