Eighty-two per cent of Abu Dhabi homeowners would reinvest in the property market if they sold their current unit in return for a good premium, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by Metropolitan Capital Real Estate (MCRE).
The survey, which polled 300 UAE residents, also found 67% of the property owners surveyed said they would consider selling their units this year in return for a good premium. According to the respondents, the main reasons to reinvest property sale income back into the real estate market are a requirement to upgrade (61%), a need to relocate (31%) and a desire to retire in the UAE (8%).
Evgeny Ratskevich, chief executive of Metropolitan Capital Real Estate, said: “Over the next two years we will see a lot more interest in the Abu Dhabi secondary real estate market from international end users. More and more expats are viewing Abu Dhabi as a place to live, work and retire in due to the capital’s robust economy, safe and secure environment and thriving job market.
“We increasingly see interest from large businesses who are relocating their headquarters here and from end users who are planning to buy primary or secondary residences. Abu Dhabi’s new Midfield Terminal, expected to open in early December this year, will open new markets and accelerate interest in the city’s real estate sector from key markets such as India, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Western Europe and the United Kingdom,” he added.
“The data collected in our YouGov survey shows that Abu Dhabi homeowners are confident in the city’s property market indicating that the level of planned activity in the secondary market will continue to fuel transaction volumes," Ratskevich added.
"Buyers looking to invest in Abu Dhabi’s secondary property market this year will benefit from the projected increasing number of current owners who plan to liquidate their assets to reinvest it back in the same market. In addition, 69% of the property owners polled also said that they were planning to rent out their property in the next 12 months which means we should expect some additional stock to hit the market providing more options for tenants.”
The survey also found 60% of those polled currently live in the property they purchased while 73% own one or two properties and 65% own one or two-bedroom units in Abu Dhabi.
Owners are also making significant improvements to their properties with 82 per cent of respondents confirming they had made upgrades to their properties since purchase and over eight per cent spending more than Dh1 million to renovate their properties.
In addition to MCRE in Abu Dhabi, the Metropolitan Group also includes Metropolitan Premium Properties and Metropolitan Homes in Dubai, Luxury Immobilien GmbH, a real estate agency in Vienna and Metropolitan Consulting FZE, providing personal and business legal services in the UAE.
Fireball
Moscow claimed it hit the largest military fuel storage facility in Ukraine, triggering a huge fireball at the site.
A plume of black smoke rose from a fuel storage facility in the village of Kalynivka outside Kyiv on Friday after Russia said it had destroyed the military site with Kalibr cruise missiles.
"On the evening of March 24, Kalibr high-precision sea-based cruise missiles attacked a fuel base in the village of Kalynivka near Kyiv," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv was targeted.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
BLACKBERRY
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
More on animal trafficking
MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 3
Gayle (23'), Perez (59', 63')
Chelsea 0
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
