The first houses in Abu Dhabi available for ownership by foreigners from outside the Gulf have been handed over to buyers four years after the project was launched.
Manazel Real Estate is delivering the homes at Al Reef, a development that comprises 2,380 villas and 1,810 apartments, located next to Abu Dhabi International Airport.
"I am very excited to move in," said Saeed al Dhaheri, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer who bought a four-bedroom villa and plans to move in with his family in two weeks.
He is moving from the Bateen airport area of the capital and said he would enjoy the extra space of a back yard. However, the promised mosque, gym and playground were still not completed, although he had been charged Dh17,000 (US$4,628) for community services, he added.
Another owner said she planned to rent out her two-bedroom villa for Dh160,000 a year to capitalise on strong demand for high-quality rental properties.
Faiza al Zarouni, the chief operating officer of Manazel, said owners were receiving their keys upon payment of their last instalment, equivalent to 35 per cent of the sales price.
"The constructor delivered the project last month and now we are handing over the keys to our customers," she said.
The properties come with 99-year leases for non-GCC citizens, but these are expected to convert to freehold contracts when the relevant laws are passed by the Government.
"This is the first project to be delivered in Abu Dhabi where all expatriates can buy, even though only on leasehold," said Andrew Covill, the head of investment sales at the property brokerage LLJ Property.
Although construction is still under way at the site, some residents have already taken possession of their properties. Most of the completed villas have utilities such as electricity and water, but some problems remained, residents said.
Although the first villas were handed over six months later than originally scheduled, Manazel said it hoped to complete most of the remaining villas by the end of next year, in line with the original schedule.
"In 2010 we are delivering other phases in batches," said Ms Zarouni. "The desert villas will be delivered during the first half of next year and the contemporary villas by the end of that year."
Al Reef's villas and apartments sold out after their launch in 2006 at an initial price of about Dh700 per square foot. Prices more than doubled on the secondary market before falling back from September last year, brokers said.
Landmark Advisory, a property consultant in Dubai, estimates sale prices for two and three-bedroom villas now range between Dh500 and Dh675 per sq ft while apartment prices range between Dh700 and Dh800 per sq ft.
Landmark said transaction prices had remained stable throughout the last quarter of the year and were not expected to increase until more properties were handed over next year. "Prices are only likely to increase marginally for developments that are close to completion during 2010," said Jesse Downs, the director of research and advisory services at Landmark.
Landmark said sales volumes fell this month from levels in November and October, two of the most active months of this year for Abu Dhabi, with interest focused on close-to-completion developments such as Al Reef Villas, Marina Square, Sky Tower and Al Bandar.
The consultant found that sellers in Al Bandar development had adjusted their expectations by reducing their asking price by about 9 per cent since September to Dh1,500 per sq ft in order to "start attracting more buyers that were until now focused on less expensive developments in Marina Square".
Brokers say buyers stayed away from the market this month while waiting for clear signs of progress on nearly completed developments.
"Only a small number of investors are currently active in the market. The postponement of delivery dates, most notably for Al Bandar and Marina Square, may be further restricting demand," Ms Downs concluded.
@Email:ngillet@thenational.ae
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Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
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- Keep an open mind
FA Cup quarter-final draw
The matches will be played across the weekend of 21 and 22 March
Sheffield United v Arsenal
Newcastle v Manchester City
Norwich v Derby/Manchester United
Leicester City v Chelsea
Pakistan World Cup squad
Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abid Ali, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez(subject to fitness), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Junaid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain
Two additions for England ODIs: Mohammad Amir and Asif Ali
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
pakistan Test squad
Azhar Ali (capt), Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Yasir Shah, Usman Shinwari
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
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Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16. first leg
Atletico Madrid v Juventus, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
First-round leaderbaord
-5 C Conners (Can)
-3 B Koepka (US), K Bradley (US), V Hovland (Nor), A Wise (US), S Horsfield (Eng), C Davis (Aus);
-2 C Morikawa (US), M Laird (Sco), C Tringale (US)
Selected others: -1 P Casey (Eng), R Fowler (US), T Hatton (Eng)
Level B DeChambeau (US), J Rose (Eng)
1 L Westwood (Eng), J Spieth (US)
3 R McIlroy (NI)
4 D Johnson (US)
