Real Estate investor in Dubai are promised that they have a right to seek cancellation of contracts and claim complete refund, in case of delay in handover of units, and failure to accomplish all promised amenities as per sales contract.

According to the proposed law, an investor has the privileges to cancel contracts and obtain complete refund, in case the developer delays handing over of the units over eight months.

Another provision of the law, says it is mandatory for the developer to ensure they provide all promised common amenities in the contract at the time of handover. Therefore, gym, swimming pools and other promised common amenities in the building will have to be in functional status before officially handing over the key to owners. Failure to do adhere to the above, will enforce cancellation of contract by the investors.

Furthermore, another provision in the law states that if a unit after completion shows/proves 30 percent smaller than net area mentioned in the contract, the investor has the right to cancel the contract and claim complete refund.

It is mandatory for all the off-plan sales developers, to obtain all RERA approvals and register all saleable units with the Oqood system of Dubai Land Department, through the online registration system. The developer must register all contracts with RERA, and disclose complete information about the project’s handover timelines, escrow account etc.

The draft law further mentions that if the developer has failed to offer the investor an agreement within 15 days of signing the reservation form, the same will be considered “void”.

Sultan Bin Mejren, The Director General of Dubai Land Department, stated that the department has completed finalization of the draft law regarding protection of real estate investor, and the same will be implemented by end of June 2012.

Dubai Properties Group (DPG) Crowned as one of the leading developers in Dubai, have declared that they will resume work in all its mega projects that were delayed or stopped during the financial crisis.

They revealed that announcement to resume all the projects is after the major overhaul observed in terms of raise in the confidence of investors in the City, while the lost glory is back with strong response of the investors in Dubai realty market.

Khalid Al Malik, the Chief Executive of DPG, said that a clear action plan has been made to resume work in all projects that were put on hold earlier.

Some of the major mega projects constructions by DPG have been stretched as a result of downfall in real estate values from its 2008 peaks, due to the global credit crisis, which forces the banks to stop their lending, and many speculators chose to quit market.

DPG developed one of the largest fully integrated real estate and community development business developments in Dubai, and have been successful in contributing residential, commercial, staff accommodation, retail, and property management.

‘Dubailand’ which is considered as the major landmark destinations in DPG has drawn over 20million visitors last year. This year, a projected growth of 10percent more visitors traffic is expected to ‘Dubailand’ and ‘The Walk’ at Jumeirah Beach Residence, which is one of the region’s popular beachfront promenade. As of date, these landmarks are adding numbers in huge quantities towards tourism in the City of Dubai.

Chief Executive of DPG, further added to his comments that DPG will concentrate and commit to support the growth of Dubai, with varied and astonishing communities and destinations.

Since its inception in 2005, Dubai Properties, with its creative and unique mutli-use master developments and destinations, has added value to to diverse life-styles. And in  2008, the company diversified into real estate development and property services too, under the umbrella of Dubai Properties Group

Dubai’s Tallest Building of the World – Burj Khalifa’s corporate floor will be sold in an online auction. It is the first time in Dubai to see the 110th floor going under the hammer with the minimum bid of $5.4m.

LFC International Real Estate Brokerage, a licensed auction and real estate brokerage has been given the honors to conduct the historical auction and all bids should be submitted by June 28, 2012. Post the date the auction will go online on the Freedom Realty Exchange, a prominent platform for online real estate auctions.

The owner of the 110th floor, who prefers to be anonymous, said: “Dubai is a global community and the best way to reach the global buying market is through an online auction where if you are interested in purchasing the property, you can do so no from any corner of the world at your comfort.

The Burj Khalifa, which has launched in 2010, measures 2,716 feet tall and is a multipurpose property having163 floors of which 37 floors are designated for corporate office space.

Dubai Land Department (DLD) expressed earlier this month that, they are expecting to auction up to 80 properties in 2012 as the banks move to take action to recoup losses from homeowners in mortgage default.

The recent concern within the city goes that the supply of real estate/properties in Dubai is surplus is not true, as it is visible that the demand for properties in Dubai has been surpassing the supply in the market. The Real Estate experts of Dubai expressed their confidence that the city is not over supplied but in demand for more.

There has been a 2.3% increase in the prices of housing in Dubai over the last quarter of 2011, as per the latest Knight Frank Global House Price Index. On another note the high-end market has seen a swift recovery, since the UAE real estate market is getting segmented, which indicates that there is marginal benefit in considering the whole market as one.

The demand for preferences in prime locations within Dubai is high as compared to the decline in less prominent areas if the emirates, this also shows that the high-end commercial/residential segment is fetching.

As the developers and investors are strongly focussing on upscale and quality projects in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the same trend is seen in the existing residents, and new buyers are on the benefit of current market conditions that currently offer excellent value for their investments.

The premier projects like ‘The Waves’ has an occupancy of 94% and ‘Marina Terrace’ in Dubai Marina 97%, respectively, and occupancy rates in Ocean Heights and Emirates garden are 91 % and 95 % respectively. These occupancy rates indicate that there is an equal balance between supply and demand, which is a very positive outlook for the market.

According to one of the property experts, that real estate sector in Dubai has transformed into risk-free and transparent market, as the residential acquisitions are on a positive start this year.

One of the prominent landmark building Burj Khalifa has seen a 9 to 12 percent price growth during first quarter of 2012, compared to the last quarter of 2011.

The current prices range from Dh.2,850 to Dh.3,600 per square feet, whereas the last quarter 2011 shows between Dh.2,600 to Dh.3,200. The prices differ based on the views from Lake and Fountain views, to sea and Sheikh Zayed Road.

Though the growth of process is upward, a nominal increase is seen in rentals. Manish Khatri, the Vice-President – Business Development & Investments, mentioned that the trend of growth indicate upward scale in prices for units with a view, and downfall for units without good view. Inspite of minor fluctuation in the trend of prices, there is considerably stable prices across the board on the Burj Khalifa.

The overall prices of properties in Downtown area have gone up due to lower levels of stocks. According to the price listing at by a prominent real estate agent, the prices are touching Dh.3,500 per square feet, while the bottom prices are starting at Dh.2,500 per square feet.

High residential real estate transactions have been observed at Burj Khalifa during 2011, with prices soaring at Dh.28mn. The Landmark building stands at 2,717 feet tall, and has 900 studios, single, double, triple and four bedroom units, whereas the Armani Residences offer 144 fully furnished private apartments.

The building also provides lavish leisure and recreational amenities, which include swimming pools, health and wellness facilities, and residents’ lounge. Burj Khalifa, offers one of the highest fine dining restaurants in the world at level 122 called ‘At.mosphere’, and world’s highest observatory deck with an outdoor terrace on level 124 called ‘At the Top’.

 The Developer has refunded the investors all their investments despite the property downfall at the Dubai Palm Springs.

As the project was held due the economic crash Damac has agreed with the investors to refund on their lost investment in full. Sources confirm that, in the month of January this year 21 investors were paid and 29 more were paid this month. As per the resources only four investors are left to be paid yet and the delay is due to incomplete paperwork or there is no response from investors when contacted by the lawyers.

According to the lawyers and Fareya Azfar, the head of arbitration at The Legal Group, the investors are happy since their amount has been settled in full. And she has confirmed that, this is the first development company in the UAE that had given refunded 100 percent to the investors without any legal constraints. This act of being prompt and loyal has given Damac Properties good reputation in the market not just by paying off the investors but by sorting out the matter at safer level of understanding.

During the Dubai upward growth Palm Spring project was announced by Damac. The project was located on Nakheel’s Palm Jabel Ali Island standing 25-storey tall right in the beachfront, but due to the economic downfall the project was halted.

There were proposals by the developer to cancel the project in 2008 but investors were persistent to continuing after series of meetings in Dubai and the UK. Damac has tried to reinstate the project by negotiation with Master Developer Nakheel but the same did not proceed further. Investors who had waited for the construction to start, were offered 70 percent refund immediately, or 25 percent initially followed by a further 25 percent annually for the next three years which was rejected by the investors.

Dubai Land Department has now announced a new initiative which will be called Tanweer,this proposed initiative is aimed at minimizing legal conflicts, which will protect the rights of investors’.DLD has launched two initiatives over the last two years mainly to revive stalled projects in Dubai.
Majida Ali Rashid – The Chairwoman of the Centre for Promotion and Management of Real Estate Investment at DLD, said thatTanweer is designed to boost the confidence of investors in the property market. It will help the investors’ as a reference guide, and focussing on setting frameworks and general principles of the rights and duties of real estate investors, so as to give a clear guidance and clarity in the market.

Tanweer,is aimed at strengthening the property sector, mobilize and attract local and international investors, raise the confidence of the investors, ensure clarity in all the transactions, serve as a benchmark for protection of investor rights andreduce legal disputes.Though the date of launch is not yet confirmed, the aim of the DLD in protecting the investors is a major reform to the property market in the city.Sultan bin Butti bin Mejrin- The Director General of the Dubai Land Department, has mentioned that a designated consultant had been appointed already to study the clauses and finalize the real estate investor protection law and the same will be issued around mid-2012. This new initiative will providetransparency on many issues, like the process an investor can take follow in case of project delays, and handle the contracts proceeding if a developer fails to comply on his contractual terms.

A special mediation committee has been formed by the department to resolve issues without complications and in case of disputes are not been able to settle, then both parties can opt to resolve the same through the court

The Dubai Land Department has released 25 freehold properties for auction this month. The above are a part of declared 80 properties that will go under the hammer in 2012, the same was confirmed by Mr.HumaidOmran Al Shamsi, the Section Head of Auctions Section, DLD. The properties that were auctioned include apartments in the Greens, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Downtown Dubai and Dubai Marina.

Seven free hold properties were auctioned in March 2012, out of which, five were sold above the reserve price ranging from 8%-20% with competitive bidding. Compared to 2012 allocation DLD has auctioned only 35 freehold and non-freehold properties last year.

According to Section Head Mr.Shamsi, in most of the deals, the contract details of the property such as rented or vacant, the rent period and the predecessor that will handover the keys, etc., are not provided. Due the same the properties on the list are valued at 5% below market price.

In case of the propertiesgoing unsold, the same is re-evaluated and details will be passed on to the court for further decision to be taken along with the Bank whether to re-auction the property. Furthermore, if the decision by the court gives authority to the department, then the auction will be called for with a new price with a new list.

Dubai has also planned to add another attraction to the tourists. Cultural district is due to add to the existing attractionswithin the city. This plan was announced on Wednesday 21st March, the district will add a museum, an opera house and two art hotels which will be another artistic structure. According to the vice president of the UAE and prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed, Opera House District, and Modern Art Museum would be located right in the centre of Downtown Dubai.

The proposed plan will target the regular and top-end customers which will contain 50 art galleries and festivals. The Prime Minister said that if a nation will be described with the importance shown in its traditional arts and culture, it depicts the character of that nation. This plan of Cultural District promotes that the UAE government is keen in strengthening its infrastructure and promote nations’ cultural activities.

This cultural District would become the key entertainment destination and would support the arts and cultural activities in Dubai to attract high end visitors. The building of this district would not only encourage local artists but would help in portraying global cultures.

It has been declared that the UAE property market has seen variable yet stable results in the first quarter 2012. Last year’s trend seem to be steady in Dubai with stability and pace of growth, while the neighbouring emirate Abu Dhabi has seen decline with enhanced supply.

There has been 1 % change positively in the rental rates for villas and apartments in Dubai in this period compared to the last quarter of 2011. Whereas a 4% hike is observedin the selling prices of villasduring the same period, owing to big volumes of owner-occupiers in areas such as Jumeirah Village, Emirates Living and Arabian Ranches.

Though the selling prices of apartments, few of the big players saw further declines, because of huge supply, but no considerable changes have been seen in prices.

As for the commercial market, rental rates for the office spaces across Dubai dropped by 1% on average, despite constant enquiry and transaction levels. Rentals in Bur Dubai fell by 6percent, but popular business districts with limited commercial space, showed better and higher occupancy rates.

There has been a decline of 2% in office sales, due to the low transaction levels. Business Bay and DIFC has experienced the biggest decline, wherein the prices fell by 7percent and 6percent respectively