Dubai property show runs out of space
Photo credit: Chusico
Cityscape Global, which takes place at the Dubai World Trade Center in the United Arab Emirates, will feature more than 200 exhibitors, reports OPP – an increase of 50 per cent from 2012.
The rush to join the exhibition follows a similar surge in Dubai’s housing market, which has enjoyed a strong recovery from financial crash. Indeed, prices in Dubai have soared 21.7 per cent this year, according to Knight Frank’s Global House Price Index, the highest year-on-year increase in the world.
“We simply don’t have any more space to accommodation them,” Woulter Molman, Exhibition Director of Cityscape Global, said of the exhibitors they had turned away. For those that are attending the show, Molman expects an audience of 25,000 buyers ready to snap up real estate opportunities both overseas and in the emirate’s buzzing market.
“With Cityscape Global being the barometer of the local and international real estate market, we were always anticipating continued growth of the show,” he added. “The demand for exhibition space that we have received over the last couple of months in particular, however, has been quite overwhelming.”
Other property investment news this week:
Capital cities are “the next big thing” for property buyers
Capital cities are “the next big thing” for property buyers, one magazine has declared.
While investors once looked to Eastern Europe and other developing markets in search of high returns for low prices, the trend among buyers is changing back to the big players, according to Adobe2.com – and capital cities are where it’s at.
Capital are the “rising stars of luxury residential real estate”, the guide’s editor Laura Henderson explains: “We’re currently seeing a shift in interest to more established markets that have shown long-term results.”
Henderson highlights capital cities such as New York, Miami and Paris are benefiting the most from the shift in demand, with property in the city offering both investment and lifestyle potential.
“Investors can instantly reference it against current market conditions in terms of the property's value and rental rates,” she adds.
Toronto’s controlled supply and real estate liquidity is cited by Henderson as making it a key buying hotspot, along with Berlin, where a government-backed building boom is currently taking place.
Hong Kong’s new home sales improve
Hong Kong’s new home sales are starting to improve, according to new research from Knight Frank.
The agent’s report shows that existing home transactions dropped 14.5 per cent in August 2013 from July, as buyers turned to new build property instead. Indeed, new mass-market projects tempted buyers as more projects enter the pipeline.
Nonetheless, Knight Frank predicts a fall in activity this year as the government’s cooling measures impact the market and dampen sentiment.
“In 2013, the total number of residential sales is expected to fall about 20 per cent,” reads the report, “with mass residential prices dropping less than 5 per cent.”