Dubai Land Department registers 80,000 units in online scheme

Land Department registers 80,000 units in online scheme

More than 80,000 units have already been registered through Dubai Land Department’s new online application system.Called Oqood, the new system will enable effective implementation of Law No 13 of 2008 for regulating the interim real estate register in Dubai. According to the department, details of residential apartments, villas, offices and retail shops for 230 developers have been entered during the preliminary phase of the programme.

Mohammed Sultan Thani, Assistant Director General, Excellence and Organisation Governance, Dubai Land Department, said: “Dubai has witnessed the issuance of specific real estate laws that prioritise the interests of the country and all stakeholders.
The laws also seek to establish trust in the market, attract foreign investment and sustain the sector’s growth.

The latest among them is the law that focuses on the interim real estate register.”Interim registration is essential for the real estate market and is considered a pioneering step covering even off-plan sales transactions. The law protects the interest of all parties through closely monitoring sales transactions. The launch of the online application will significantly facilitate the entire process.

“Developed by Emirates Real Estate Solutions for the Dubai Land Department, the Oqood online interim registration process will lead to minimising conflicts arising between developers, investors and sellers, while contributing to cutting down the escalating off-plan selling and reselling costs.Charges will be the same as levied by the Dubai Land Department – one per cent of the total value paid by the seller and one per cent to be paid by the consumer.Ahmad Al Qaizi, Chief Executive Officer, Emirates Real Estate Solutions, said: “The launch of online application Oqood will help ensure the availability of detailed data on private proprietorship of all projects that have been sold off-plan in Dubai. It will also protect customers’ rights through safeguarding against any manipulation.The department will also offer additional training courses to all real estate developers to introduce them to the mechanisms of the Oqood programme. The dates of these courses will be announced soon.

Following the issuance of Law No 13 of 2008, developers now have to register all their units prior to launch of the project and only then can they proceed with their sales.Law No 13, which regulates initial property registration in Dubai, aims to create further consumer ease and protection within the Dubai real estate market by introducing a mandatory system of pre-registration at the Land Department for off-plan sales contracts for property units.

Under the new law, any off-plan sales that are not registered will be invalid.

Half of Dubai agents sold no homes in last month – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com

Half of Dubai agents sold no homes in last month – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com

Half of all real estate agents that responded to a survey have not sold a single property in the last month,

TheEstateAgentsDubai.com revealed on Monday. The website, a forum for agents in the emirate, said agents blamed a lack of lending from banks and “self-perpetuating panic” as the main reasons behind the current drop in demand.

Many banks in the region have tightened their lending criteria due to the global credit crunch, a move that has left customers unable to secure a loan to buy a property.

Local lenders have slashed home financing from 90 percent to as little as 50 percent in recent months.Paul Allen, TheEstateAgentsDubai.com webmaster, said in a statement that agents felt the tightening lending conditions had “caused a seizure in the market”.

Agents also blamed a lack of regulation by Dubai’s newly-formed Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) and unclear information regarding new laws and procedures from Dubai’s Land Department, according to the survey, which polled more than 170 agents.

Despite the current climate, the survey found agents were optimistic about the medium- to long-term outlook for the market, with three-quarters of respondents stating the market would pick up within three to six months.

HSBC said last week property prices in Dubai fell four percent between September and October, with the price of villas tumbling 19 percent due to slowing demand and tighter lending conditions.

Construction on Palm Jebel Ali to slow – The National Newspaper

Construction on Palm Jebel Ali to slow – The National Newspaper

Infrastructure work on parts of Nakheel’s Palm Jebel Ali may be slowed in light of current economic conditions, according to Ali Mansour, the project’s director.

A number of bridges are already under construction on the man-made island, and infrastructure work on the lower and left quadrants, along with the spine and lower fronds, is progressing. But construction contracts that were scheduled to be awarded in the latter part of next year and early 2010 will most likely be put back.“

We might slow down the launching of contracts for infrastructure work on the components of the island that are not scheduled to be populated until after 2011 or 2012,” said Mr Mansour on the sidelines of Meed’s coastal development conference today.“It’s very reasonable to do so.
The island’s quite big, so for those districts that are far from being occupied in the near future, we might slow down infrastructure work.”

Palm Jebel Ali is the second island in the Palm trilogy, located in Waterfront. It will feature luxury hotels and homes built on stilts over the water, which together spell a poem written by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

Mr Mansour added that the areas which could be affected are the upper right and left quadrants of the development
mailto:development.aguiffrida@thenational.ae

Buyers shun off-plan units at property show – The National Newspaper

Buyers shun off-plan units at property show – The National Newspaper

The property market is now dominated by sellers trying to offload their mostly yet-to-be-built apartments, but the few buyers there are only interested in completed units, brokers at a property show said.Industry executives attending the Property Shopper show in Dubai over the weekend said few buyers were to be seen.

The show was intended to bring estate agents and buyers together; instead, brokers were inundated with requests from sellers to help sell off-plan units they had bought in projects that had yet to break ground or were not yet completed.

“Most of the people who came were looking to resell their properties and very few were interested in buying off-plan,” Kameel Jabbour, the managing director of Dubai-based New Market Real Estate said. “(Buyers) were concerned about which projects would continue or not, and would only inquire about distinguished properties. Usually during a show we would conclude deals, and in some cases we would also receive payments. But not this time.”

Inquiries mainly concerned studios and one-bedroom apartments with a price of between Dh750,000 and Dh1.5m, brokers said. Demand for rental properties, however, remained high.

Buyers shun off-plan units at property show – The National Newspaper

Buyers shun off-plan units at property show – The National Newspaper

The property market is now dominated by sellers trying to offload their mostly yet-to-be-built apartments, but the few buyers there are only interested in completed units, brokers at a property show said.Industry executives attending the Property Shopper show in Dubai over the weekend said few buyers were to be seen.

The show was intended to bring estate agents and buyers together; instead, brokers were inundated with requests from sellers to help sell off-plan units they had bought in projects that had yet to break ground or were not yet completed.

“Most of the people who came were looking to resell their properties and very few were interested in buying off-plan,” Kameel Jabbour, the managing director of Dubai-based New Market Real Estate said. “(Buyers) were concerned about which projects would continue or not, and would only inquire about distinguished properties. Usually during a show we would conclude deals, and in some cases we would also receive payments. But not this time.”

Inquiries mainly concerned studios and one-bedroom apartments with a price of between Dh750,000 and Dh1.5m, brokers said. Demand for rental properties, however, remained high.