IPIN Live - Archived posts for July 2010

High-end housing takes on a whole new meaning as an Indian developer gets to work on what may be the world's tallest residential tower...

A new committee is being formed to oversee the renovation of old houses along the Pearl Route in Muharraq and the redesigning of Souq Al Qaisariya.

Chennai based Oriental Hotels Ltd is planning to expand its footprint by adding more hotels. The company will add two more properties to its existing eight in the next two years...

Foreign investment has fallen dramatically in Bulgaria, where the housing market continues to struggle. While Bulgaria is attractive to foreign buyers looking for holiday houses...

Apartment vacancy rates are plunging, thanks to a jump in employment and the continually growing number of foreclosures....

In the past couple of weeks or so some interesting statements and reports have appeared in the British press with respect to the future of UK house prices, the end result (depending how you read the various articles and opinion) is a little confusing to say the least....

Average UK house prices fell 0.5pc in July, as anxiety about the economic outlook put buyers off.

Majority of developers in Dubai try to invoke "force majeure" provisions in their contracts to explain delays, while a very few are willing to pay compensation, according to realty experts.

Emaar Properties continues to express interest in the Dh2.2 billion (600 million USD) Lombok project...

A consortium led by 10 Greater Manchester councils has been chosen to manage a 350m GBP regeneration fund of to lend to developers in the north-west.

Union Investment's Investment Climate Index, which tracks attitudes and expectations among European real estate professionals at six-month intervals, recently moved up to 67.5 points, which is where the index stood in autumn 2009....

In line with expectations of economists, housing prices rose more than 4% in May 2010 over the previous year...

Authorities in Beijing are planning to make most residents, including hairdressers to policemen, learn English in an effort to convert the Chinese capital into a "world city".

Two retired women being sued with others for 16.3 million EUR over unpaid loans to develop a property in Dalkey, Co Dublin, relied entirely on the financial advice of a businessman...

Cloisall, the UAE's leading interior fitting and contracting company, has secured 112 million AED financing from First Gulf Bank (FGB) for two prestigious Abu Dhabi contracts...

Bahrain-based property developer RealCapita is expected to complete its $200 million Amwaj Gateway project next year after a delay of more than six months...

Commercial real estate in emerging economies is outperforming that of more established markets.

The latest RICS Global Commercial Property Survey for the second quarter of the year has found that countries located in South American, Asia and Eastern Europe are outperforming UK and eurozone destinations....

DLF is buying out the property arm of Dubai World, its foreign partner in the 50:50 joint venture to make Bidadi Knowledge City...

Russia plans its biggest sell-off of state assets since the early 1990s....

Recent changes to the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rules may affect future buyers of overseas property....

Limitless, which was placed under Nakheel's stewardship this month, has put most of its projects on hold, while parent conglomerate Dubai World seeks to unify its real estate strategy.

Kuwait's local real estate market witnessed slight slowness in June but property sales were not affected as 708 deals were reported, according to an economic report.

The average value of property located in the 14 postal districts located closest to the main Olympic site in East London has shot up by 26% in the last two years.

The real estate market is expected to recover in the last six months of this year, together with the country's economic recovery process.

Real estate offers investors a good long-term opportunity at present, with low prices and liquidity working to attract buyers looking for a good return on investment....

Despite a slight upward trend in prices of late, thanks to the homebuyer credit, worrisome signs remain for the US housing market...

UK interest rates will have to remain at their record low level for the next four years, a leading economic forecaster has claimed.

Property prices continued to increase in China in Q2. Land sales in recent years have sent prices of residential properties to skyrocket in many cities.

The high-flying overseas property agent who bought the "Britain" island in Dubai’s the World project is facing a seven year jail sentence for writing bad checks.

The cost of renting and buying luxury properties in the capital is being pushed up by a combination of a surge in interest from wealthy Chinese tenants and the return of City bonuses.

A well-known property in Tokyo dubbed "Totoro's home" reopened as a park Sunday based on a sketch by Hayao Miyazaki...

A total of 4,387 houses or their occupants were found to be in violation of Dubai's building and construction rules in Dubai in the first half of this year, Dubai Municipality said.

Christian Candy, the developer of lavish apartments for the super-rich, has "apologised unreservedly" to Prince Charles...

Seven of 91 European banks have failed stress tests aimed at measuring their strength in case Europe suffers further economic shocks - but four British banks passed.

News has emerged that the Italian government is considering holding a great national sale of its islands, palaces and beaches in an attempt to reduce its spiralling national debt....

Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Neil Barofsky, criticized government claims of success....

The UK economy soared by an unexpected 1.1pc between April and June, official figures showed today.

The Minister of Municipalities has agreed to find funding for the renovation of houses in the Southern Municipality.

European banks, including four British firms, are awaiting the results of a test of their ability to cope with future economic shocks.

The UK economy grew by 1.1% from April to June, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Sales of multifamily properties in the first half of 2010 were substantially higher than the same period last year...

New research has found that in the second quarter of 2010 global direct commercial real estate investment volumes reached US$66 billion.

The figures, released by Jones Lang LaSalle, are similar to the ones seen during the first quarter of the year and as the sector begins its recovery it represents almost twice as much activity in the market compared to the lows of one year ago....

Premier Hotels Ltd, one of the subsidiaries of hotel management firm Prem Group, is facing liquidation...

Santander is thought to be considering a flotation of its UK banking operations in London in move that could raise up to GBP 3bn.

The significant regulatory and legal changes that are being announced in the recent days have signalled positive steps...

Kuwaiti government intends to study the possibility of granting foreigners right to own real estate properties, reports Al-Shahid daily.

A 55 billion U.A.E. dirham( USD 14.97 billion) property development that was to have been built in Iraqi Kurdistan by Dubai-based developer Damac Properties has been cancelled.

Great Portland Estates portfolio outperformed the market with a 4.6% capital value growth in the second quarter of this year, the company said today.

Average real estate prices in Greece fell by 7.7 per cent during the first quarter of 2010 in comparison to the same period last year, new research has suggested...

The Italian government appears ready to join France and Greece in a massive property sell-off to ease its sovereign debt...

The Ho Chi Minh property market has got three new condo projects...

US President Barack Obama has signed into law a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations almost two years after failures on Wall Street led to economic meltdown.

Two Caribbean companies are suing an Irish developer over allegedly diverting for his own use large sums out of $52 million paid to his companies for a major hotel and resort development...

For anyone new to investing that may not have decided on which sector they should invest their money into....

Despite the severe debt crisis in Greece, demand still remains high for Greek real estate on the Mediterranean Coast...

Foreclosure filings fell in the opening half of 2010 while banks accelerated completion of repossessions...

Gross mortgage lending rose to GBP 13.1bn in June, up 15% from the previous month, latest industry figures show.

Abu Dhabi's Ferrari Theme Park opens in 100 days, at 12 noon on October 28.

The Supreme Court has decided that a 1968 tax notice imposing inheritance as well as income taxes on the beneficiaries of life-insurance money paid in the form of a pension is illegal...

Commercial property investment has been attracting a lot of attention recently, with the market generally performing better than its residential counterpart after the economic troubles in Europe...

The recovery in the UK housing market could result in an increase in the number of homes being repossessed, as mortgage lenders crack down harder on defaulting borrowers.

Confidence in the private sector is on the up, with nearly a third of landlords reporting rising tenant demand...

Nearly three-quarters of the overall costs of leaky homes will be borne directly by affected households, ANZ bank is estimating....

Improved home financing and developers securing bank finance has allowed Jordan's real estate market to record the first quarterly growth since the downturn in the economy.

Labour MP Nick Raynsford has been appointed chairman of Triathlon Homes, the company established to own and manage the affordable housing at in the Athletes’ Village in Stratford...

More people are looking to rent high-end villas as a result of on-going price reductions across the Emirate...

The Civil Aviation Authority says the "vast majority" of holidaymakers stranded abroad when a travel company collapsed should be back in the UK by tonight.

Spain has long been seen as a go-to destination for overseas property investors, with its combination of good weather, popularity as a tourist destination and stable economy attracting a great deal of interest....

Dubai Land Department's regulatory arm, the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera) led a bid to encourage region wide cooperation on regulation...

Dubai real estate companies are likely to face major refinancing risks when some of their debt matures...

The Baghdad Mayoralty is discussing housing compounds with Turkish firms...

The great British holiday is back in fashion with more British holidaymakers choosing not to jet off to the sun but to stay at home instead.

The average rent in the UK rose by 0.5 percent to 667 GBP per month in May, according to the latest Buy to let Index...

Vivara Residences of the Acron Group, a Goa-based chain of exclusive housing complex for the elderly population, promises to offer a perfect blend of the two - live long with all wishes fulfilled...

As the federal homebuyer incentive is phased out, real estate companies are offering their own stimulus plans...

The tenancy laws were uniformly welcomed by Dubai's homeowners and developers...

Beirut Terraces, a $500 million residential development situated in the heart of the capital was unveiled in a ceremony which celebrated the commencement of the project's construction.

Mortgage defaults rose again in May, according to an analysis of mortgage-backed bonds by ratings agency Moody’s.

Profits at housebuilder Abbey exceeded €15 million in its last financial year, but the company expects sales to drop over the next 12 months as the British market tightens.

The stock market weakness of recent months has been widely attributed to the ongoing drama in the euro zone...

US bank Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay $550m to settle civil fraud charges of misleading investors, the BBC reports...

In recent times the property markets in the Asia Pacific region have been comfortably outperforming their counterparts in the west....

A slight dip in June, following months of soaring property prices, should encourage China's government to continue anti-speculation efforts...

The latest data released by the Investment Property Databank (IPD) suggests that the growth once seen in values within the commercial property market in the UK has begun to tail off...

A French leaseback or "Crédit Bail" is a long term, secure, low-risk property investment vehicle in which the developer of a property sells the freehold of the property to investors; the investor then leases back the use of the property to the developer or more commonly, a management company...

At a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Yekaterinburg, President Dmitry Medvedev has pledged to create comfortable conditions for foreign investors in terms of the Customs Union.

Dubai Properties Group (DPG), a member of Dubai Holding, said yesterday that it witnessed "a significant increase" in demand for its built-to-lease communities throughout Dubai.

A steep dip in rents across the UAE had prompted over a third of tenants, who took part in a survey, to switch homes in 2009 with many opting for larger rental properties.

Creditor banks are expected to give their final agreement to the restructuring plan of Dubai World's real-estate unit Nakheel by the end of August.

Banks and credit providers are stepping up efforts to recover bad debts, even as they start relaxing lending criteria, figures from the National Credit Regulator show.

Allied Farmers has confirmed an unconditional the sale of the 23.3ha Five Mile property, near Queenstown, which it took over as part of the purchase of Hanover Finance late last year.

The concerns of foreign trade partners have been somewhat relieved now that Beijing has allowed the yuan to appreciate...

Every industry has its fair share of myths and misconceptions, the investment property business is no different...

More than a third of UAE residents have taken advantage of the dip in the property sector by upgrading rental properties...

Singapore expects its economy to soar 15pc this year after a record expansion in the second quarter that suggests Asia's recovery from the global recession remains on track.

Seven business people are being sued for €16.3 million over unpaid loans made to a partnership to develop a property in Dalkey, Co Dublin....

Beleaguered property fund DNZ has set a date for listing on the NZSX, eight months after its last attempt failed...

The number of residential property sales fell in June, although the median price edged up, latest figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) show...

A new HUD program in effect till mid 2013 gives priority - and a discount - to public and non-profit groups for REO purchases...

Rents in Abu Dhabi continue heading south by 7 per cent on average...

House prices continued their downward slide in the second quarter of the year...

Irelands construction sector continues to contract but at its slowest rate in almost three years....

New research has revealed that the number of property millionaires in the UK now stands at five times the level seen ten years ago, with 100,000 new property magnates created since 2000.

This staggering increase equates to a 393 per cent growth in successful investors, a survey by Santander Mortgages has found....

Availability in central London is at its lowest for two years according to research by CB Richard Ellis.

The Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA) has announced a shortlist of six developers...

After 64 games, being deafened by the previously unheard of vuvuzela, the World Cup has finally come to an end with Spain fending off the Dutch in extra time....

The Thai economy could grow by up to 7 per cent this year, according to the National Economic and Social Development Board's (NESDB) latest assessment.

Increased supply puts more downward pressure on rents for older properties while subdued sales activity holds prices for villas and apartments...

As the property markets around the world begin to reassemble themselves following a long period of turbulence and uncertainty, a number of commentators are predicting happier times as we head into the latter stages of 2010....

Following news that Spain's AAA credit rating was to be downgraded and further threats from the European Central Bank that the eurozone banks could be forced to pay back a further EUR 195 billion in bad loans....

Dubai Properties Group (DPG), a member of Dubai Holding, yesterday announced that it is addressing the shortage of affordable housing in the region...

THE number of home loans for owner occupied housing rose for the first time in eight months in May, official figures show.

The UK housing market recovery is showing signs of faltering as new figures show house prices fell for the third month in a row.

In Kazakhstan's capital, the "world's biggest tent" is the latest addition to the city's futuristic skyline....

Russia ranks ninth in Europe on the speed of return on real estate investment, the industry portal GdeEtotDom.ru reported. Monaco was the last on the list, and Turkey was first.

House values fell further in June with buyers remaining selective and cautious...

Russia's 16 special economic zones have attracted 207 residents and 144.9 billion rubles ($4.7 billion) investment...

Investing in multi-family housing helps spread out your risk, without dramatically increasing your costs...

China is now the largest real estate investment market in the world, overtaking the US...

Investors are overcoming the traditional stereotype of students and looking to increase their potential rental yields, student lets are now proving themselves to be a profitable Buy to Let opportunity.....

The value of listed ING Medical Properties portfolio has risen by more than $10 million in the last year...

Bovis Homes, the British housebuilder, said it will resume paying dividends at the end of the financial year...

Qatari Diar, the property arm of the emirate's sovereign wealth fund, is expected to launch a roadshow in London as early as Friday.

The UK's trade deficit widened unexpectedly in May, dealing a blow to hopes that an export-led recovery is gathering pace.

While we continue to be informed about the gradual recovery of the world's property markets in the wake of the global economic crisis, investors are beginning to look for the most worthwhile sections for achieving long-term growth....

Chesapeake Lodging Trust agreed to purchase the Boston Marriott Newton in Newton, MA....

Prime Minister Naoto Kan has expressed his eagerness to lower corporate taxes as early as fiscal 2011, ahead of a proposed hike in the consumption tax...

Belatedly, Japan's leading politicians are waking from their coma and realizing that the country's economy is in a massive mess hit by a triple whammy of low growth, heavy debts and an increasingly aging population. Talk in the runup to Sunday's Upper House elections is when and by how much to raise the 5-percent consumption tax...

The Ministry of Justice has told the Jeddah First Notary Public Office to stop transferring ownership of title deeds for about 200,000 properties in 60 residential districts.

The number of British property millionaires has soared nearly five-fold during the past decade despite the house price crash, research has showed.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that the aviation sector needed more public-private partnerships...

The average time from delinquency to foreclosure sale rose to record levels in May, reaching more than 14 months....

The French mortgage market is experiencing a tightening of bank policy towards accepting clients in some sectors because the economy has slowed but current currency rates are good news for British buyers...

Hotel rooms as an investment are a relatively new concept, in the last twenty years or so opportunities have arisen for investors to add this investment type to their portfolios. The concept originated in the US and now hotel investment options are available around the world.

The Wall Street Journal named Russia one of the largest oil exporters to the US. According to the newspaper over several months the imports of the Russian oil to the US....

Tenants of some 17,000 residential units in Dubai will now have to adopt a new monthly payment of their housing fee...

There seems to be a lot more optimism about the state of the global property market, with many commentators predicting that price growth in a number of international markets will be the primary characteristic as we plough through 2010 and beyond....

Indore-based Entertainment World Developers (EWDPL) is likely to dilute about 25-30% to raise money from the public market...

If there is one certainty in the world, it is that more and more Indians are going to be living in cities....

iSold, the cut-price estate agency chain backed by Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket chain, has come up with an innovative marketing strategy....

Manhattan apartment sales are booming thanks to a better jobs outlook and bargain prices....

Union Properties, Dubai's third-largest property developer by market value, hopes to finalise the sale of the Ritz-Carlton...

Communities secretary Eric Pickles will slam the previous government's "Soviet-style" housing targets today, as he officially revokes Regional Spatial Strategies.

Investors are worried the risk of default for US local governments is growing....

Australia held interest rates at 4.5pc for the second consecutive month...

A property consultancy on Monday stressed the need for greater public private partnerships in Bahrain to develop affordable housing.

The UK economy expanded further in the second quarter of this year...

Distressed property in the foreclosure process in the US is selling at an average of 27% lower than other real estate with almost a third of all transactions involving those in some stage of mortgage

Homebuyers will have an extra three months to qualify for the tax credit on transactions already under contract, with passage of an extension....

While the pound might have strengthened against the euro in the wake of last week's Emergency Budget, with investors viewing the UK economy with increasing confidence given the government's apparent determination to cut the country's deficit and the mounting eurozone debt crisis, underlying weakness against other currencies is continuing to have an impact on the UK property market....

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has identified five new sites for the construction of around 9,000 units under the rental housing project in the Thane district...

CFP software, the UK’s market leading provider of estate agency software, is to allow its members to automatically feed properties...

Cheaper money and easier lending terms are likely to bring consumers back to the mortgage market...

The Ministry of Justice's National Offender Management Service has agreed to a new prison at Belmarsh, London, to be built by Skanska and run by by outsourcing giant Serco.

If we look back fifty years, property was not really considered by most as an investment vehicle. We take a look at how property investment has evolved through the last five decades and just as importantly, why?

Barwa has started delivery of its long-awaited low-rent housing units in Al Saliyah to tenants....

The findings of Cluttons Q2 2010 report support the belief that Dubai currently represents a buyer's market...

Broad-based growth in India, across all sectors, suggests that it may achieve double-digit growth rates within three years....

New Delhi: India ranks 13th across the globe in terms of price rise in the residential sector for the year ending March....

This week it was revealed that work on Donald Trump's 750 million GBP championship golf course is now officially underway. Full planning permission for the development, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, has been granted and is scheduled for completion in 2012....

Auckland house sales slumped last month as winter malaise set in among buyers....

Office occupancy rates in Bangkok fell slightly in the second quarter while rents were stable due to limited relocation...

Property developer Nakheel, a unit of Dubai World that has built palm-shaped islands, has been given the responsibilities of Dubai's Limitless...

Luxury lifestyle developer Damac Properties has announced that it has awarded the main contract for construction to commence at its Al Jawharah project in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Weak manufacturing data from China, disappointing US home sales and continuing weakness in the US job market led to a sell-off in gold....

Increasingly cautious French lenders are creating a tighter mortgage market for the self-employed, but currency trends and lending rates are contributing to overall favorable real estate conditions....

Land prices sank by an average of 8.0 percent in 2009 as the rise in office vacancies following the global financial crisis threw cold water on the real estate market...

The Dammam Municipality's decision to impose a huge rent hike for real estate and investment projects located on the Dammam and Alkhobar Corniche has sparked outrage among property investors.

Hotel owners and landlords who provide furnished apartments in Jeddah are not adhering to safety regulations...

House prices will fall gently for the next two years before levelling out...

Transparency in a country's property market has often been cited as a major factor in attracting foreign investment to a destination. Clear guidelines and rules for overseas and local investors help to build both confidence and strength in the sector, with many individuals being drawn to the relative solidarity and simplicity of buying in more stable destinations....

With apartment vacancies appearing to have peaked, and U.S. rents even starting to edge up slightly, offerings of quality multifamily assets...

Although foreclosures still accounted for over 30 percent of US housing sales in the first quarter, that figure is falling, along with the pace of foreclosure filings...

Wayne Rooney and his family are now holidaying in the Caribbean at their £5 million luxury villa in Barbados, having flown out there yesterday (Wednesday 30 June)...

The London Thames Gateway Development Corporation has bought seven land plots in Hackney Wick and Fish Island...

Permanent TSB will soon inform 800 customers paying interest-only mortgages on buy-to-let investment properties that they must start repaying capital....

The Dubai Land Department yesterday introduced a financing initiative called "Tayseer" to stimulate real estate funding...

Housing supplies are expected to far exceed demand as over 18,000 buildings many of them residential - are currently under construction in Qatar.

Tenants in Saudi Arabia are accusing landlords of unjustifiably increasing their rent prices....

New Zealand's housing market is "still way overpriced" by international measures and is likely to struggle for some time...