AME Info

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Sweet Homes recently announced that they have sold out 70 % of the Dh3bn Ajman Uptown project. Ajman Uptown comprises seven commercial and residential towers, a hotel and hotel apartments complex, and villas and townhouses.

According to the announcement, the strong sales reflect the vibrancy of Ajman’s real estate industry and the appeal of Ajman Uptown, despite a 40 per cent hike in property prices in Ajman in 2008. Reports also indicate that investments into Ajman’s property sector have crossed the Dh400bn-mark this year. Ajman is currently experiencing a property boom due to its investor-friendly laws and reasonable project rates.

“Ajman is strategically positioned to attract more foreign investments into the real estate sector, with over 33 per cent of development projects in the area owned by expatriates, as compared to 11 per cent in other emirates. The Ajman Government has mandated the implementation of a solid infrastructure that will entice real estate developers and has recently adopted Escrow accounts and Strata regulations similar to those adopted in Dubai,”

said Fahad Sattar Dero, CEO, Sweet Homes Group.

Zawya

However, despite the ‘Strata Law’ being in place for almost a year, few associations exist in the emirate. Instead, home owners in areas such as Discovery Gardens, The Palm Jumeirah and Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) have taken to organising unofficial committees to battle recent hikes in maintenance costs.

In JBR, maintenance fee hikes of as much as 129 per cent have hit owners. An apartment owner, Cecilia Reinaldo, is behind the efforts to organise a committee to fight the increases.

“When we moved in we were shown a brochure which promised five beach clubs and a beach park but it’s been a year and we haven’t seen them,” she said. “I don’t know where this money is going.”

She added that the contract said that as soon as the first building was registered with Dubai Land Department, an owners’ association should be set up to look at how the maintenance fees were being spent. However none has been formed.

“Some of the people I spoke to said they wished they’d have rented, instead of buying the property,” she said. “If they go up across the board then demand for properties will fall further.”

A spokesman for Dubai Properties was unavailable for comment. However, RERA CEO Marwan bin Ghalita confirmed to Khaleej Times that Dubai Properties had already sought out RERA for talks about setting up an owners’ association. Acting on behalf of Dubai Properties, Salwan Property Management sent out a notice to residents informing them that maintenance fees would rise from Dh9.5 per square foot to Dh21.75 per square foot.

Vincent Easton, sales manager at Sherwoods said: “These properties have been subsidised for a while now and I expect we are seeing the real price. Dh9.5 per square feet is quite cheap.”

Coupled with delays on moving in, residents of Discovery Gardens have had large maintenance fees sprung upon them without being forewarned.

Neil Whittaker, who was due to move into the property in June, but wasn’t handed the keys until November, said that he was asked to hand over a sum of Dh45,000 before he could move in. The bill included maintenance charges of Dh15,894 as well as community service fees and other charges.

“Nobody told us about these charges,” he said. “Nobody has told us how they got these figures; what it’s based on; if it’s market rate; if they are annual; if they will stay at this rate year after year. Nothing. I foresee many a fight with Nakheel about it but we have the house now and we are moving in.”“For a limited number of properties at Discovery Gardens, it was necessary to revise completion dates,” said a spokesman for Nakheel. “This was due to circumstances beyond our control.

“For all of Nakheel’s developments, each year’s service charges are budgeted according to the projected costs, and all accounts are independently audited to ensure accuracy and transparency for homeowners.”

Meanwhile, Palm Jumeirah residents have fought back against Nakheel’s plans to increase maintenance fees by as much as 40 per cent.

However, third parties not involved in the dispute said that Nakheel had been -on the whole- responsive to residents’ concerns. No one from the owners’ committee that is involved in negotiations was willing to comment to the Press.

Khaleej Times

The academies campus will house football, swimming, rugby and hockey academies as well as the ICC Global Cricket Academy, the Butch Harmon School of Golf and the David Lloyd Tennis Academy.

International sporting events are scheduled to take place at the DSC cricket stadia in the first half of 2009 while the WorldHockey Academy will be handed over in March 2009, with the initial focus on delivering the Asia Cup hockey tournament in the first week of May.

The next facility to open will be the Football Academy and ICC Global Cricket Academy towards the end of the second quarter, followed by swimming, rugby and a High Performance Centre.

Emirates Business

The circulation of such information is both highly misleading and deceptive to investors. This will directly cause investors to lose money if they do not thoroughly read their contracts and seek proper legal advice, Rera officials said. The officials urged the investors to consult them for official information on Dubai’s property market and their investments. They also appealed to investors to work with registered professional real estate agents and developers and to always check the validity of the source of emails, phone calls and newspaper articles.

Khaleej Times

Hydra Village Sharjah is a mixed-use project that will embody a suburban oasis of contrasting motifs and harmonious, family-oriented communities. Composed of 66% residential, 14% office, 10.5% retail, and 9.5% hospitality components, Hydra Properties’ latest project will become the new haven of 50,000 residents.

Commenting on the company’s unwavering commitment to furthering the UAE’s real estate industry, Dr. Sulaiman Al Fahim, Chief Executive Officer of Hydra Properties, said,

“We are proud to announce that we are all set to reveal Hydra Village Sharjah at the Acres Middle East Exhibition. Our steadfast vision and spirited commitment encourage us to keep going in building the best and the most innovative properties in the market.”

“The development’s most exceptional quality is its exciting blend of modernized Arabesque architecture and sophisticated all-glass elegance. Comprised by two main parts, Hydra Village Sharjah’s design philosophy is that of stark contrast, featuring a modern all-glass half and another locally inspired half that pays homage to the richness of Arab culture,”

Dr. Al Fahim added.

With a total of 1,068 townhouses and 3,618 apartments scattered across eight clusters, customers have the option to choose from luxurious town houses, modern one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, and extravagant terrace apartments. Sophisticated, state-of-the-art offices and a luxurious hotel will also be integrated into the project, providing comfort and convenience to the vibrantly relaxed community.

Strategically aimed at bringing families close together, Hydra Village Sharjah’s community will be largely composed of families who cherish a tranquil hideaway from the city. The development will appeal strongly to buyers who wish to offer their families the best in everything and put their families on top their priorities – by portraying a welcoming neighbourhood with unparalleled features and services.

“Everybody is affected by the financial tsunami, nobody is immune. However, all projects that we started are going on as planned and we are not laying off any person,”

said Ousama Ghannoum, Aldar’s marketing director.

He said Aldar’s ongoing projects in Abu Dhabi, which include the Formula 1 track, Central Market project, hotel projects and Al Raha Beach residences, are going to be completed on schedule.

“We have tight delivery schedules and we are going at full speed,”

Ghannoum said, adding the Formula 1 track would be ready next year to host the last Formula 1 race of 2009 calendar year in Abu Dhabi on November 1.

Gulfnews

The latest contract involves construction work on Dubai International Airport’s Concourse 3 at a cost of Dh4.9bn. This contract is awarded to Al Habtoor Leighton only two weeks after Al Habtoor Leighton and Pearl Dubai FZ LLC signed a letter of intent for the Dh8.85bn Dubai Pearl.

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The emirate of Ajman plans to establish a real estate regulatory body on the lines of Dubai’s Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA). The regulator will be established in the first quarter of next year, and its main purpose is to oversee property developments.

This means that the government of Ajman will begin enforcing the escrow account law issued in June, stating that all money collected from buyers during the construction of a project must solely be used on construction.

Reports presented at the Urban Waterfront conference predict the global market value of waterfront developments will reach $500 billion the next five years. Being home of three Palm projects, Waterfront and The World, Dubai is set to be one of the most active in waterfront developments.

Dubai attract property investors from all over the world, with investors from India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UK, Oman, Iran, Canada, Bahran and Kuwait currently on top.

REIDIN/Gulfnews/UAERush