Category: Business

The ongoing pandemic has had dramatic impact on property markets. The rental market too has not been left unscathed – current rentals have not just slowed to a crawl, but have in fact ground to a halt and even contracting.

And rents have been falling as tenants struggle to pay their dues. Tenants too are looking to move into similar-sized properties at lower rents.

The landlords are now caught in a rut, unable to find an escape out of the situation. The property market has suffered over the past five years after a period of expansion, as there have been dramatic changes in people’s mindsets and something unprecedented for such a short time period.

Saving grace?
While opting for a holiday home, do not be fooled by unrealistic projections. This category isn’t into magic solutions. But the landlord can be reasonably sure that the property as an asset will not depreciate and still be able to get a high single-digit return.

Most importantly, the possession of the property always remains with the owner – there is no need to worry about cheques not going through or tenants not leaving. On average, expect between 15-40 per cent more than what long-term rentals can fetch.

Check around
Ensure selecting the a management company to work with, do the homework. There are many good ones and each with its own strength. Visit the office and get to know their team, because they will be handling the guests.

Keep in mind managing holiday homes is a hospitality business and not a real estate game. Ask the question that if you are going on a vacation, would this management company be able to make the stay a comfortable one.

Analysts said that the inflow of foreign investments into the emirate’s vital sector could pick up in the near future because the greenback is projected to weaken further.

Since the dirham is pegged to the US dollar, the UAE currency follows any fluctuation in the dollar. The dollar, hence dirham also, has weakened by 12.2 per cent against the euro in the past five months, falling from 1.06 on March 20 to 1.19 on August 18. Similarly, the dollar has lost 15.78 per cent against the UK’s pound. This effectively made buying property or any other assets in the UAE cheaper by over 12 per cent and 15 per cent for European and UK investors.

“Since mid-March, investors from Switzerland, the UK, Germany, and Italy have been able to take advantage of gains made by the Swiss franc, sterling and the euro, as the US dollar weakened over the past four months,” said Sean McCauley, CEO of Devmark.

“Subsequently, development projects in Dubai have, in effect, become 14.8 per cent and 11.2 per cent cheaper depending on whether you are buying in euros or sterling. Indeed, UK investors, for example, buying in pounds could now save over Dh185,000 when buying a one-bedroom luxury apartment, at the Address Jumeirah Resort, once compared with the exchange rates at the beginning of March,” added McCauley.

According to Reidin, the total value of real estate transactions in the Dubai residential market still closed just shy of Dh10 billion in the second quarter of 2020 despite the lockdown. Although transaction value is down by 40 per cent year-on-year, the volume of transactions was marginally up in May and June.

“Many market watchers are predicting that the dollar will soften by a further 1.75 per cent by the end of this year, so it could be fairly safe to assume that Dubai’s property market will benefit from these financial market dynamics, for some time to come,” added McCauley.

Analysts that the uncertainty surrounding US economic recovery and US stimulus package are weighing on the greenback.

“There is a strong momentum for investors to want to sell the dollar,” said Juntaro Morimoto, an analyst at Sony Financial Holdings, pointing that the greenback has been declining since last month.

Being late by 5 minutes probably saved UAE expat Afzal KP from the jaws of death – he missed the fateful Kerala-bound Air India Express flight. For once in his life, the Abu Dhabi resident was grateful for being fined.

At 1:35pm on Friday, 26-year-old Afzal stood at the Dubai International Airport feeling awful that he had missed his flight, because he was late by five minutes to pay an overstay fine. He was supposed to board the Air India Express Flight IX1344 from Dubai to Kozhikode.

The Abu Dhabi resident told Gulf News: “I was supposed to leave UAE by July 10, after my work visa with Royal Dates, where I worked, expired in June. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, I was unable to travel back. At first, I thought of remaining in the UAE till December with a visa extension. But, as flights opened up for repatriation, I decided to apply to return on a Vande Bharat mission.”

After days of waiting, he finally received a ticket for August 7.

He said: “I was happy I was going to return to Mattannur in Kannur, my hometown, after more than a year, I would get to see my mother. I am also engaged, and our families were planning to set a wedding date, after I completed quarantine.

Afzal added: “On August 6, I reached Sharjah and stayed there, before heading out to Dubai next morning. At 8:30am, I was in the airport, excited and ready. I gave my blood test at the counter. I got my boarding pass, my seat number was 18C.

Dubai Economy has launched ‘The Great Economic Reset Programme’, as part of efforts to get in more resilience into the local economy in a “post-pandemic future”.

The “CovExit” initiative will try and enhance awareness of the disruptions caused by the pandemic and propose solutions for economies and societies to adapt growth strategies to the next normal.

As a first step, experts are being brought together in a ‘Virtual Policy Council,’ an engagement platform run by Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government.

“I believe the triple helix collaboration between public, private and academia stakeholders have always produced the best solutions in the past,” said Mohammed Shael Al Saadi, CEO of the Corporate Strategic Affairs sector in Dubai Economy.

“In the highly uncertain environment now, extensive collaboration and cooperation between all stakeholders are vital to our future prosperity. The Virtual Policy Council will propose the best approaches Dubai and the UAE can adopt to address the risks and opportunities in the next normal economy.”

The Dubai housing market continued to take a hit from the coronavirus pandemic, with sales activity plunging by more than half in June, even after real estate agents and other businesses reopened from the nationwide lockdown, research shows.

A total of 4,459 homes were sold in Dubai during Q2 2020, down 48.8 percent compared to Q1 2020. Sales of ready-to-move-in homes fell 56.6 percent in Q2 compared Q1 and 43.6 percent compared to same time last year, according to ValuStrat’s latest report.

Sales of off-plan residential units also dropped by 43.7 percent quarter-on-quarter and 36.9 percent year-on-year. Off-plan sales represented 66 percent of all home sales. Residential rental values were also down 5.2 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Buyers snapped up apartments and villas with a total value of 7 billion UAE dirhams ($1.9 billion), with an average ticket size of 1.57 million dirhams, during Q2.

Researchers at ValuStrat did not say when the slump will ease or sales upticks will start to show, but they warned that the anticipated decline in population numbers due to massive job cuts and expat repatriation could have a negative economic impact.

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has fixed August 31 deadline for receiving submissions for the second edition of the Dubai World Self-Driving Transport Challenge 2021.

Participants can win prize money of Dh6.3 million in total. RTA calls on leading companies, start-ups and local academia to send their entries through the website before the deadline.

Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Roads and Transport Authority launched the second edition of the Challenge in the closing session of the Dubai World Congress and Challenge for Self-Driving Transport in October 2019 in a ceremony held at the Dubai World Trade Centre. RTA started receiving entries since March this year.

Second edition theme
“The theme of the second round of the Self-Driving Transport Challenge is ‘Self-driving Logistics Services’ that covers ground transport means and drones among others. The aim is to broaden the scope and fields of application for participating firms,” said Ahmed Bahrozyan, CEO of Public Transport Agency and Chair of the Organising Committee of Dubai World Congress and Challenge for Self-Driving Transport.

An Asian passenger’s attempt to smuggle 1.3kg of narcotic crystal meth, worth around Dh40,000, into UAE was foiled by the Dubai Customs officials.

The contraband was concealed in the inner lining of the suitcase of the passenger at the Dubai International Airport, a top official said. Ibrahim Kamali, director of passenger operations department, said as the passenger looked confused, the officials suspected him. “The suitcase was thoroughly inspected and the narcotics recovered.” The smuggler was handed over to the General Directorate for Drug Control at Dubai Police, following the protocols of joint work and cooperation between Dubai Customs and Dubai Police.

“Dubai Customs uses the best inspectors and the latest technologies to thwart any smuggling attempt and protect the country against the hazards of illegal goods.” Dr Mohamed Hamed, a pharmacist, said that crystal meth is a form of methamphetamine. “It is a white crystalline drug that some people illegally consume by snorting, smoking or injecting it with a needle.” It is a powerful and extremely addictive man-made stimulant and its use can lead to severe physiological and psychological dependence, he added. “The clear crystal chunks, similar in appearance to actual ice or glass, are odorless and colourless.”

The effects of narcotic crystals include suppressed appetite, interference with sleeping behaviour, mood swings and unpredictability, tremors and convulsions, increased blood pressure and irregular heart rate, he elaborated.

A total of 186 Indian workers in distress were able to fly home for free recently, thanks to a businessman who sponsored their tickets on two charter flights from the UAE. Dr Dhananjay Datar, chairman and managing director of Al Adil Trading, told Gulf News that 98 workers were flown on an Emirates charter flight to Pune, while 88 were repatriated on a flydubai charter flight to Mumbai last week.

This is in addition to sponsoring tickets of more than 1,000 Indians in coordination with various bodies, said Dr Datar, who is also known as the ‘Masala King’ after the spices sold in his shops.

“We are arranging free charter flights mainly to repatriate low-income workers who have lost their jobs and they ran out of money,” Oberoi, 64, a Dubai-based industrialist from a small town in Punjab, told IANS here on Friday.
He said the stranded Indians include tourists who came out on a shoestring budget and the money is running out. “We are giving priority to pregnant women, old, sick and families,” he said.

The next scheduled chartered flight of SpiceJet, each carrying 177 passengers, is on July 13, 19 and 25. A flight costs Rs 40-42 lakh and is being paid by Oberoi-managed Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust. Oberoi, who came to Dubai in 1977 as a mechanic, is well known for charity work.

His trust saved more than 80 people convicted of various cases for crimes in the United Arab Emirates. It rescued a woman from Punjab who was sold as domestic help in Oman.

The Dubai-based airline had on July 11 announced that it would be operating special repatriation flights from Bengaluru, Kochi, Delhi, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between July 12 and July 26.

According to a statement issued by the airline, Ahmedabad-Dubai flight will leave Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) Airport at 4:25 am on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Along with Ahmedabad, Emirates has started their repatriation service from Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata as well.

“These flights will carry passengers only outbound from India, and cargo in the aircraft bellyhold in both directions, supporting repatriation of travellers as well as the transport of essential goods. Customers in India can book these flights on emirates.com or via travel agents,” read a statement issued from the Emirates.

As Dubai has been opened for business as well as tourism in the wake of Covid-19, the airline has issued an advisory stating that only those customers will be allowed to board the flight who comply with the eligibility and entry criteria requirements for international visitors to Dubai.

More than 10 lakh people have been infected and around 26,000 people have so far died due to coronavirus in India.