Week 33 SUNDAY, 18 AUGUST 2019 ASSET MANAGEMENT SALES LEASING VALUATION & ADVISORY BUILDING CONSULTANCY OWNER ASSOCIATION REAL ESTATE NEWS UAE / GCC / MENA WORK STARTS ON COASTAL VILLAGE PART OF SAUDI MEGA TOURISM PROJECT AFFORDABILITY SEEN AS GROWING CHALLENGE FOR SAUDI REAL ESTATE MARKET WHY CO-WORKING SPACES COULD BE THE FUTURE IN SAUDI ARABIA RIYADH'S MIDSCALE HOTEL SECTOR FORECAST TO SEE STRONGEST GROWTH THE BEST TIME TO GET A SECOND MORTGAGE UPCOMING ICONIC SKYSCRAPERS TO ADD MORE GLAMOUR TO UAE SKYLINE INVESTORS MORE BULLISH ON UAE'S ECONOMY COMPARED TO OTHER GLOBAL MARKETS DUBAI HOMEFRONT: 'IS IT SAFE TO PAY MY RENT TO THE LANDLORD'S POWER OF ATTORNEY?' NEW DUBAI RESIDENTIAL UNITS TO PUSH REAL ESTATE PRICES DOWN FURTHER, REPORT SAYS DUBAI REPORTS RISE IN FIRST-HALF TOURIST NUMBERS DUBAI ISSUES ALMOST 15,000 NEW BUSINESS LICENCES IN FIRST HALF OF YEAR NEARLY 21,000 PROPERTIES COMPLETED IN DUBAI DURING H1 CONSTRUCTION AWARDS SLUMP HITS H1 PROFITS OF DUBAI'S ARABTEC MAISON PRIVEE INKS DEAL FOR $100M PALM JUMEIRAH HOMES PORTFOLIO UAE'S IBC EYES $5BN DEAL TO ACQUIRE 10,000 HOLIDAY HOMES IN DUBAI DUBAI DEVELOPER TO PAY BUYER'S SCHOOL FEES FOR A YEAR UAE DEVELOPER AZIZI LAUNCHES NEW DIVISION TO ADD DUBAI RETAIL PORTFOLIO IN PRICEY MIRDIF, A NEW PROJECT FOR BUDGET-CONSCIOUS HOMEBUYERS OVER TWO-THIRDS OF WORKS ON AL QUDRA-LEHBAB PROJECT COMPLETED DUBAI DEVELOPERS RACING AGAINST TIME TO COMPLETE, HANDOVER PROJECTS ABU DHABI | AL AIN | DUBAI SHARJAH | JORDAN | KSA 34+ YEARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST © Asteco Property Management | 2019 | asteco.com Page 1 ASSET MANAGEMENT SALES LEASING VALUATION & ADVISORY BUILDING CONSULTANCY OWNER ASSOCIATION REAL ESTATE NEWS NEW COMMUNITIES IN DUBAI WILL SEE MORE RENTAL DEMAND ABU DHABI INFRASTRUCTURE WORK STARTS ON ALDAR'S $544M ALREEMAN PROJECT DEFLATION TAKES HOLD IN ABU DHABI AS HOUSING COSTS FALL ADNEC SAYS CONTRIBUTED $630M TO ABU DHABI ECONOMY IN H1 INTERNATIONAL BERLIN RENT FREEZE UNNERVES INVESTORS EGYPT'S RED SEA COAST TO GET A NEW MEGA RESORT GULF INVESTORS OFFERED CHANCE TO BECOME UK HOME OWNERS OVERNIGHT ABU DHABI | AL AIN | DUBAI SHARJAH | JORDAN | KSA 34+ YEARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST © Asteco Property Management | 2019 | asteco.com Page 2 ASSET MANAGEMENT SALES LEASING VALUATION & ADVISORY BUILDING CONSULTANCY OWNER ASSOCIATION HOMEFRONT: 'IS IT SAFE TO PAY MY RENT TO THE LANDLORD'S POWER OF ATTORNEY?' Thursday, Aug 15, 2019 I need to renew my current lease but the owner's representative insists I make the cheque payable to the Power of Attorney (POA) and not the owner. I am very uncomfortable with this. In the past, I have seen you write in your column that you should only make a cheque payable to the owner, as there can be many shady things the owner/representative has already done. This might include not paying service fees, not reimbursing me for major expenses in the apartment and so on. My lease expires in three weeks and they are only springing this on me now (in the final moments of the contract). They also have still not paid me over Dh4,000 for work I paid for, which they agreed to reimburse. Plus the landlord's agent has my security deposit and I have little time to find a new place. Does the Real Estate Regulatory Agency or the Dubai Land Department have a rule that cheques should be payable to the owner of property – in other words, the person whose name is listed on the title deed? What do you suggest? Risk paying the POA or find another place to live? RT, Dubai Any rental payments have to be made in the name of the owner (as per the title deed) and this includes if there is more than one person represented. This is the Rera rule. I realise that sometimes an owner may not have a bank account in the UAE, if they are not residing here, but this is easily resolved by transferring monies via bank transfer etc. The only time a tenant should write the rental cheque to anybody other than the owner is if the owner has appointed a representative with POA. In these instances, you must make sure the POA document is legal and by that I mean in date. POA documents generally have a validity date of two years so please check this. Also, carefully read the document thoroughly and ensure the person with POA can indeed receive the rent in his/her name. The reason rental cheques should be in the owner's name is obviously to avoid any fraud. As mentioned, check the POA document carefully and, if it is all OK, it is allowed to pay the rent this way. If it makes you feel more secure and for added comfort, you could always ask the owner directly to email you (so that it is in writing) that he is happy for you to write out the rent cheque in the name of the POA. You can do this just to check that the owner's representative is acting in accordance with the owner's wishes. You can never be too careful in these situations as rental cheques have been misappropriated by individuals far too many times. These crooks have managed to get their hands on money illegally by using fake documents. Mario Volpi is the sales and leasing manager at Engel & Volkers. He has worked in the property sector for 35 years in London and Dubai. The opinions expressed do not constitute legal advice and are provided for information only. Source: The National Back to Index ABU DHABI | AL AIN | DUBAI SHARJAH | JORDAN | KSA 34+ YEARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST © Asteco Property Management | 2019 | asteco.com Page 3 ASSET MANAGEMENT SALES LEASING VALUATION & ADVISORY BUILDING CONSULTANCY OWNER ASSOCIATION NEW DUBAI RESIDENTIAL UNITS TO PUSH REAL ESTATE PRICES DOWN FURTHER, REPORT SAYS Tuesday, Aug 13, 2019 A record number of residential units expected to come online in the second half of the year will push Dubai property prices lower, according to a report by the portal Property Finder on Tuesday. A total of 20,978 residential units were completed in the first half of 2019 comprising 14,999 apartments, 1,084 serviced apartments and 4,895 villas and town houses, according to Property Finder estimates. An additional 38,426 residential units within 152 projects that have at least an 85 per cent completion status as of July, are scheduled to be delivered by the end of the year. “With a record number of units expected for the second half of the year, we can expect prices to decline further as the market continues to absorb these units,” said Lynnette Abad, director of data and research at Property Finder. “Increased residential supply bodes well for residents as they will continue to have more leeway to negotiate prices in the rental market. For the sales market, an influx of new supply, without being outstripped by demand, will continue to make the city more affordable both for residents as well as investors,” she said. Notable handovers this year so far, include the DT1 tower in Downtown Dubai with 130 apartments, Al Sarfa compound by Meraas in Al Sufouh with 44 villas, Sidra Community (512 villas) and the Maple I and Maple II sub- communities of Dubai Hills Estate (1,312 villas). Villas were also added in Sobha Hartland Estate in Mohammed Bin Rashid City (48) and in Emaar’s Vida Hills (426 apartments). Within the master-planned community of Town Square by Nshama, six additional projects were expected by the end of 2018. So far this year, 579 units in Safi Apartments and 680 additional units in Zahra Breeze were completed, and others can be expected to follow by the end of the year, according to the report. New projects slated for the remainder of the year include the first phase of Arabella villas, Seventh Heaven in Al Barari, Acacia apartments in Park Heights within Dubai Hills Estate, 458 town houses in Serena and Jenna apartments in Town Square. Phase 1 and 2 of Azizi Victoria with 2,550 apartments in total, Wind Tower 1 and 2 in Jumeirah Lakes Towers with 620 apartments and three towers yielding 1,427 apartments in Al Habtoor City are also scheduled for completion this year. “Overall residential stock is expected to reach 637,000 units by the end of 2020, correlating to more than a 10 per cent increase in recent years. While there are concerns of supply increasing ahead of demand, a more affordable market overall would be a welcome trend for residents and investors,” Property Finder said. The latest survey comes as rents and sale prices continue to decline in Dubai. Average apartment prices in the emirate declined 15.1 per cent in the second quarter of the year, compared with the second quarter of 2018 with villa and town house prices dropping 14.7 per cent during the same period, a report by property consultancy Cavendish Maxwell recently said. ABU DHABI | AL AIN | DUBAI SHARJAH | JORDAN | KSA 34+ YEARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST © Asteco Property Management | 2019 | asteco.com Page 4 ASSET MANAGEMENT SALES LEASING VALUATION & ADVISORY BUILDING CONSULTANCY OWNER ASSOCIATION Source: The National Back to Index ABU DHABI | AL AIN | DUBAI SHARJAH | JORDAN | KSA 34+ YEARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST © Asteco Property Management | 2019 | asteco.com Page 5 ASSET MANAGEMENT SALES LEASING VALUATION & ADVISORY BUILDING CONSULTANCY OWNER ASSOCIATION BERLIN RENT FREEZE UNNERVES INVESTORS Saturday, Aug 10, 2019 Berlin’s plan to freeze rents in the city for five years has spooked investors facing leaner returns amid a public backlash against big apartment owners, once among the best-performing stocks.