TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 BUSINESS

GCC send powerful message to property community Cityscape Global as real estate market remains stable

KUWAIT: The upbeat sentiment of the had a productive first half of the year and market there has to be balance between we look forward to showcasing our next year. The most positive news is the extent UAE property sector has been underlined is continuing to reinforce the growth luxury properties and affordable proper- project at Cityscape Global.” of trust investors place in the residential by a new survey conducted by global momentum plans for ongoing develop- ties. Previously developers had tried to Emirates NBD will be joined by four property market, which reveals the high market research company YouGov, which ment. As the progress of con- launch affordable properties, however other offering competitive mort- potential this sector has and the impor- revealed that 60 percent of investors tinues, we are continuing to partner with due to speculators and high demand gage rates and advice at Cityscape Global. tance of understanding what appeals expect Dubai’s real estate market to grow businesses to ensure our residents are some of these properties appreciated at These include Abu Dhabi Commercial most amongst prospective buyers.” over the next 12 months. provided with the ideal living community.” such high rate that they reached the , First Gulf Bank, Commercial Bank of Welcoming more than 300 exhibitors With over half of home buyers (54 per- from around the world, Cityscape Global cent) feeling positive about the continu- has been extended by two additional ing growth of the Dubai real estate mar- exhibition halls - four more halls since the ket and a further three-fifths (58 percent) 2013 event - covering more than expecting an increase in sales and rental 40,000sqm of exhibition space. prices over the next year, all indications Taking a new format this year, the point towards a buoyancy in the residen- Cityscape Global Conference will be tial market. staged the day before the exhibition at These figures emerge as thousands of Conrad Hotel Dubai. investors from around the world prepare YouGov will be exclusively presenting to descend upon the Middle East’s largest their findings from a 1,500 strong study of property showcase, Cityscape Global, UAE Real Estate Market Sentiment, look- held at the Dubai World Trade Centre ing specifically at the future outlook from from 8 - 10 September. More than 100 investors, real estate professionals and local developers will participate in the potential home buyers during the morn- 14th edition of the event next week to ing of the conference. showcase their latest projects. The new format is expected to facilitate The YouGov survey has shown that more than 800 senior real estate profes- location is a significant factor in determin- sionals and government officials who will ing where investors purchase their prop- explore opportunities and find solutions erties in the Emirates. According to 861 to key challenges affecting the industry UAE residents, properties near public today. Also running in tandem with the transportation are the most attractive and exhibition is the Cityscape Awards for in demand (56 percent), followed by Emerging Markets. The awards program those close to grocery stores (44 percent), attracts hundreds of entries from develop- shopping malls (41 percent) and ers and architects behind real estate Mosques (37 percent). developments across emerging markets Conducted exclusively for , the globally. Winners will be announced at an organisers of Cityscape Global, the study elaborate ceremony taking place at the also revealed that studios and one bed- Conrad Hotel, Dubai on 8 September. room apartments are growing in popular- Cityscape Global 2015 returns with ity in the UAE real estate market, with support from Dubai Land Department investors shifting their focus to smaller, and Foundation Partners: Emaar affordable residential options. Showcasing their Botanica Project, same price point as luxury properties. Dubai and National Bank of Abu Dhabi. Properties, Dubai Properties and Nakheel; Jumeriah Golf Estates will be capitalis- located in the popular Jumeriah Village “With new regulations in place, the spec- YouGov’s Head of Real Estate Research, Gold Sponsors: Arma Properties; Garanti ing on this opportunity as they showcase Circle, Sky View Real Estate Brokers and ulation of properties has been controlled Lara Al Barazi commented, “The study Koza and Al Marjan Island; Silver Sponsor their latest development, AlAndalus, Myra Real Estate Development will also and because mortgage LTV has been limit- highlights positive sentiment across the Sobha LLC; District Operator Sponsor: which offers end-users a new definition of be offering end-users and investors an ed at 50 percent for off plan projects, most board. Investors, potential home buyers as Ejadah Asset Management; Project affordable luxury. affordable option. developers are offering easy payment plans well as real estate professionals are Marketing Sponsor: Aqua Properties and Yousuf Kazim, CEO, Jumeirah Golf Kash Kanjwani, Director at Sky View and the right pricing. Demand for afford- expecting growth to continue in the Property Registration Trustee Partner: Estates said: “Jumeirah Golf Estates has Real Estate Brokers said: “For any mature able housing is now greater than ever and Dubai real estate market in the coming Tamleek Property Transfer. India economy grows slower than expected 7.0% in Q1 Pressure on PM to speed up efforts to boost growth

NEW DELHI: India’s economy grew rency and stocks also plunged last Bradstreet, said 7.0 percent was “not India’s government changed the by a slower than expected 7.0 per- week along with those of other that bad” given the government’s way it calculates GDP in January, say- cent in the first quarter, official fig- emerging markets on fears China’s need to pick up the pace of reform ing the new method was closer to ures showed yesterday, adding to economic slowdown is worse than and the fact new investments were international standards. The main pressure on Prime Minister Narendra expected and as the US Federal sluggish. change is that India now measures its Modi to speed up efforts to boost Reserve prepares to move on inter- The figures showed manufactur- economic growth at market prices to growth. est rates. ing, hotels, financial and incorporate “gross value addition” in Growth in the three months through June slowed to 7.0 percent year-on-year from 7.5 percent in the previous quarter, the statistics min- istry data showed. The figures for the first quarter of the financial year were NEW YORK: Pedestrians walk past the New York Stock Exchange. Global lower than the median forecast of 7.4 stocks mostly fell yesterday after a US Federal Reserve official suggested a percent in a survey of economists by September interest rate hike still was possible and weak Japanese factory Bloomberg News.India’s growth activity provided more evidence of a sluggish global economy. —AP overtook that of regional economic powerhouse China in the first three months of 2015, prompting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to announce the World to Fed: We’re prepared economy was in “recovery mode”. But analysts said the latest figures for US rate hike, so don’t delay indicated the right-wing govern- ment’s attempts to revive Asia’s third JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming: Central bankers removed its cap on the franc at 1.20 to the largest economy were faltering. from around the world are telling their euro, sending the currency soaring and put- “The GDP number shows that American counterparts that they are ready for ting a major strain on the export-dependent there is no take-off in any of the key a US interest rate hike and would prefer that Swiss economy. sectors of the economy,” Madan the Federal Reserve make the move without “Latin America has seen a surge of infla- Sabnavis, chief economist at Care further ado. In private and in public at last tion” as countries “internalize” the evolution of Ratings, told AFP. week’s global central banking conference in Fed policy, Central Bank of Chile Governor “The high government spending Jackson Hole, the message from visiting poli- Rodrigo Vergara told the conference. which was expected to provide the cymakers was that the Fed has telegraphed boost is not being reflected in the an initial monetary tightening and, following TWO YEARS OF PREPARATION numbers.” Modi swept to power in a year-long rise in the dollar, financial markets Those sorts of trends have been under May 2014 on a pledge to reform and globally are as ready as they can be. way for some two years, when then Fed chair- revive the economy to help provide HYDERABAD: An Indian worker stitches together bags of onions at a market in Hyderabad. The powerful group gathered at the end man Ben Bernanke set off a global “taper jobs for India’s tens of millions of India’s economy grew by a slower than expected 7.0 percent in the first quarter, official figures of a roller-coaster week in markets in which tantrum” when he suggested the central bank young people. showed yesterday. —AFP the Dow tanked by 1,000 points on Monday was preparing to scale back its bond-buying But many of Modi’s key economic on concerns of a slowdown in China but program. initiatives including a national goods Monday’s figures come after services and real estate were among goods and services as well as indirect recovered to trade higher by the end of the Two years after the taper tantrum, Fed offi- and services tax have stalled in parlia- India’s central bank earlier this month sectors that grew over 7.0 percent, taxes. week. Remarks by Fed officials that liftoff cials say some volatility is unavoidable when ment where his Bharatiya Janata kept interest rates on hold, saying the while agriculture and mining were The base year to calculate India’s could come in September were blamed by the shift in policy occurs. “For emerging mar- Party (BJP) lacks a majority. country’s economic recovery was still among those well below 7.0. The GDP has also been advanced to some for that volatility. kets, the smaller economies, they’re often Modi on Sunday also announced a “work in progress”. numbers were the latest Gross 2011-12 from 2004-05. But analysts But for Agustin Carstens, the top central looking for a weaker currency. So from their he was abandoning land reforms Reserve Bank of India governor Domestic Product data to be say the new data does not correlate banker in Mexico, a rate hike by his neighbor perspective a tightening move by the Fed aimed at speeding up stalled multi- Raghuram Rajan has snipped rates released since the government intro- with some other economic indica- sends an encouraging sign of economic might be helpful to weaken their currency billion dollar infrastructure and other three times this year in a bid to kick- duced a revised formula for calculat- tors, including last year’s industrial health, even if it does force growth-chal- and help them do what they want to do,” St. development projects, after mass start lending and boost growth. Arun ing GDP that some analysts have crit- production figures and corporate lenged Mexico to also raise rates within days. Louis Fed President James Bullard said in an opposition from farmers. India’s cur- Singh, senior economist at Dun & icized. profits. —AFP “If the Fed tightens, it will be due to the interview. fact that they have a perception that inflation There are opponents to a hike - most is drifting up, but more important that unem- notably the People’s Bank of China and the ployment is falling and the economy is recov- International Monetary Fund, which has Low inflation in Europe puts spotlight on ECB ering,” Carstens told Reuters in an interview. urged the Fed to delay until the world econo- “For us, that is very good news,” he added. my is on a stronger footing. BRUSSELS/ FRANKFURT: With low price later this year as the difference between the NOT YET While Yao Yudong, head of the People’s But even frequent Fed critics said at inflation serving as a reminder of the euro- price of oil now and in 2014, when it started For now, the stabilization in inflation in Bank of China Research Institute of Finance Jackson Hole that the time was coming to and Banking, last week blamed the Fed for hike. “It’s a long anticipated event,” Reserve zone’s delicate health, the European Central to fall from June, becomes less stark. August, which follows a dramatic earlier the market turmoil and said a US hike should Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said Bank is having to reassure market investors Nonetheless, the central bank is far off its slump over more than two years, puts the ECB be delayed, most central bankers from on a conference panel, sitting alongside Fed that it can do yet more to help the economy. goal of inflation near 2 percent and it is under no immediate pressure to act when its emerging markets contacted by Reuters at Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer. “It has to hap- Fresh data showed on Monday that infla- expected to pare back its inflation forecasts, governing council meets this week. But its Jackson Hole and over the past month shared pen sometime - everybody knows it has to tion throughout the 19-country bloc was just an admission that the target may slip. president, Mario Draghi, may underscore the Carstens’ view. happen - but pick your time.” Those com- 0.2 percent - illustrating that while the euro “The ECB forecasts must show lower infla- bank’s readiness to act, a message already An end to more than six years of rock bot- ments were supported by central bankers zone’s economy is stabilizing, it is doing so tion. I don’t see how it can be any different,” sent by the ECB’s chief economist Peter Praet, tom US rates will touch off a wave of poten- from Japan, South Korea and Indonesia. only at a very low level. said Carsten Brzeski, an economist with ING. when he said there was “no ambiguity on the tially painful adjustments as countries deal When asked earlier this month whether he The falling cost of oil is driving prices low- “The ECB will prepare markets that it is willing willingness and ability ... to act if needed”. with the likelihood of an even stronger dollar thought the Fed should hike in September, er, with energy costs down 7.1 percent in to step up its efforts.” With interest rates at record lows, most as well as capital outflows from some emerg- Bank Indonesia Senior Deputy Governor August compared with a year ago. Policy-set- One question, though, is how. When asked economists believe this would mean an ing markets and changes in the relative prices Mirza Adityaswara told Reuters in Jakarta: ters in Frankfurt, who warn that falling oil has in a poll by Reuters last week if the ECB had expansion of its money printing program to of traded goods. An end to uncertainty for “The more certainty there is, the better.” skewed this result, point to a measure the any viable alternatives to its current asset- buy chiefly government bonds. The recent policymakers, however, could outweigh those A senior South Korean policymaker ECB calls core inflation as proof that a one- buying scheme if serious economic weakness stock-market crash in China further clouds the difficulties. echoed that sentiment. “A lift at an already Effects of the Fed’s easy money have been expected timing would be better in a sense trillion-euro-plus money printing program is were to reappear, the answer was a resound- picture and may hurt commodity prices, thus felt in countries as diverse as Chile and that it clears up one of the big uncertainties having an impact. ing “No” from 34 of 46 analysts. adding to deflationary pressure. Switzerland. Annual inflation in Chile has con- over the issue and it would mean the US eco- Stripping out energy and unprocessed Those who thought there was an alterna- “The ECB needs to wait for dust to settle in sistently come in above the bank’s target nomic recovery is deemed sustainable,” he food, consumer prices rose 0.9 percent year- tive listed politically difficult things such as order to better read the impact of recent range of 2 percent to 4 percent. said, speaking on condition of anonymity as on-year in August, the same as in July. buying equities, and vague things such as financial market volatility,” said Dominique In Switzerland, the central bank has been he was not authorized to comment publicly Inflation growth rates are also set to change more “forward guidance”. Barbet, economist at BNP Paribas. —Reuters forced to keep rates negative since it by the Bank of Korea. —Reuters