Ethiopian Gebrselassie wins Dubai Marathon

The world record time of 2:03:59 that Gebselassie set in Berlin on September 28, 2008 remains unshattered.

Dubai: Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia won the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon for the third time in sucession.

The world record time of  2:03:59 he set at the 2008 Berlin Marathon remains unshattered.

The 36-year-old Ethiopian finished Friday’s 42.2-kilometer (26-mile) race in two hours, six minutes and nine seconds.

“I did not feel good when I started off today. I was having a bit pain in the back but still feel nice that I won this race again,” remarked Gebrselassie after the race.

Chala Dechase Beyene of Ethiopia finished second.

It was one of the hottest races in the history of marathon with some of the finest runners in the game from around the world arriving here for the run.

At a time when the world is reeling from economic recession, Dubai marathon continues to be the richest marathon in the world.

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Hedge funds look east as regulation bites

A number of funds of hedge funds are also planning offices in the Asian cities, Dan McNicholas, head of Asia financing sales at Merrill Lynch said. McNicholas spoke in a Bloomberg Television interview without mentioning any names.

New York: Bank of America Merrill Lynch is helping more than a dozen multibillion dollar international hedge funds set up or reestablish a presence in Hong Kong and Singapore as the US and Europe increase industry regulation.

A number of funds of hedge funds are also planning offices in the Asian cities, Dan McNicholas, head of Asia financing sales at Merrill Lynch said. McNicholas spoke in a Bloomberg Television interview without mentioning any names.

Hedge fund managers have been tempted by Hong Kong’s regulatory environment, the region’s economic growth and potential investment opportunities as US and Europe have proposed to increase taxes on the financial industry. London Mayor Boris Johnson said that as many as 9,000 bankers may leave the UK capital’s financial district as a result of a 50 per cent tax on bonuses announced last month.

“When you compare to New York or London, the business environment has been very friendly for managers,” McNicholas said. In New York and London “you are seeing tax proposed and other restrictions on business that may make Hong Kong and Singapore attractive”.

Asia is also expected to absorb a larger proportion of global hedge fund inflows than it historically received as funds need to correct their under-allocations to the region, he said. More than 15 per cent of the $50 billion (Dh183.5 billion) to $100 billion of hedge fund inflows expected in the first quarter may go to Asia, McNicholas said.

The UK last month imposed a 50 per cent tax on banks for bonuses of more than £25,000. It is also raising taxes on residents earning more than £150,000 a year to 50 per cent from 40 per cent.

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Bashar Al Assad arrives in Riyadh for summit talks

By Abdul Rahman Shaheen, Correspondent

Riyadh: Syrian President Bashar Al Assad will arrive here on Wednesday on a landmark official visit — a further sign of the thaw in relations between the two key Arab states.

The visit would follow Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal’s visit to Damascus last week.

The Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement between the leading Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah, Iranian nuclear dossier and the situation in Lebanon would figure high in the talks.

“During the Saudi-Syrian summit talks, the leaders will discuss ways to further strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields, in addition to the regional and international issues of mutual concern,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Framework

Syrian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mahdi Dakhlallah, said that Al Assad’s visit comes in the framework of hectic political activities in the Arab world to revive the peace process as well as to work out a united Arab position toward the hostile Israeli acts.

The two leaders will review the latest situation on the Arab and regional arenas, especially the recent armed infiltration of Al Houthi rebels along the Kingdom’s southern border with Yemen, and the Iranian nuclear programme that poses a threat to the Gulf and Arab region, he said.

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UAE realty market on path to maturity

While the past year has been tough, the outlook is good for the sector in the long term

By Aya Lowe, Staff Reporter

Dubai: The year 2009 has been a trying one for the UAE realty market. The property boom, which saw frenzied construction and skyrocketing prices, began easing, forcing industry players to make adjustments, sale and leasing rates to decrease and for the market to begin its process of maturing.

“In the past year, the UAE realty market has moved into real terms by way of pricing, clarity, and creditworthiness. Speculators have vanished, unscrupulous brokers have disappeared, developers with short-term vision and negative assets have moved away and genuine buyers with credit worthiness have developed. Banks and financial institutions have evolved to meet the changed scenario,” says Sudhir Kumar, partner and managing director of Realtors International.

The year began with an increasing number of developers reporting losses and with more and more projects being put on hold.

“We may argue that the cancellation and stalling of projects is a good and/or bad thing for the market. The reduction in supply of property tends to be negative but it also means prices and values will stabilise assuming demand remains stable,” says Bruno Martorano, Managing Director of Leo Sterling.

In January, developers were forced to adapt to the market changes by streamlining their company sizes and costs. Developers such as Mizin, the Tatweer real estate development subsidiary, Nakheel, Damac, Tameer, and Omniyat were among the developers that announced mass cuts. “The downturn in the job market also meant a reduction in value of properties,” Martorano added.

Sale and rental rates in both the residential and commercial sectors suffered falling more than 40 per cent in the first half of the year. Investors were left with properties they couldn’t sell, developers were affected by clients defaulting on their payments, brokers were affected from the lack of transactions.

Lower housing prices sparked a movement of relocation from expensive accommodation to more affordable units and allowed individuals who were sharing accommodation to rent their own units. It also offered investors and buyers with cash an opportunity to buy properties at affordable prices. Commercial property became more affordable, making the region an attractive option for setting up business.

The third quarter of the year began to show some stabilisation. According to Colliers International, house prices rose by 7 per cent in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter, but prices were 47 per cent lower in the same period in 2008. The opening of the Dubai Metro and expansion of public infrastructure reinforced property prices in certain areas. This stabilisation was slightly trumped by the announcement in November that Dubai World was looking to restructure its debt repayments of $26 billion (Dh95.42 billion), most of which came from its property arms Nakheel and Limitless.

Strains in the industry began to show as an increasing number of contractors complained about late payments and investors complained about late deliveries. Many developers offered their investors alternative options such as consolidations in other ready projects. Nakheel introduced a policy of unit swapping between unfinished and completed projects. Deyaar offered reduced prices and full refunds on some of its projects.

Sovereign bond

Help was made available in the form of the $20 billion sovereign bond announced in February that was used to help government related companies meet financial obligations.

The Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera) played an important role in regulating the industry by announcing tougher rules and actions against wayward developers. “Rera’s work in putting in laws and regulations and weeding out the seedy players will in the long term be very beneficial to the market,” said Martorano.

Strained liquidity and tighter mortgage lending affected the market considerably. The number of sale transactions eased, affecting developers who had to fund developments based on sale. End-user demand has fluctuated mainly due to changes in financing policies, availability and affordability of mortgages removing most of the buyers from the market.

“Limited mortgage activity severely constrained the market in terms of volumes and pricing. The real estate market is positively correlated with mortgage market and we will not see a significant or sustainable recovery until mortgage lending activity increases and interest rates come down,” said Jesse Downs, director of research and advisory services at Landmark Advisory.

Where speculation drove the market during Dubai’s property boom, 2009 saw the stagnation of the off-plan market. “Investors and end-users are now focused on purchasing properties that are complete or nearing completion. No one is ready to buy off-plan and then wait several years for a developer to build a project before they can move in or rent the property, and that’s the way it should be in a mature market,” said Dr Rasim Kaan, group executive director at Tanmiyat.

Mergers

Mergers and consolidations between government backed developers became more frequent. Dubai Holdings announced in February that it would merge the operations of three of its real estate entities, Dubai Properties Group, Sama Dubai and Mizin (a member of Tatweer) under one consolidated operation. However, in December, Emaar Properties announced it would not be merging with Tatweer, Dubai Properties and Sama Dubai.

“The year 2009 has seen the end of the investor lead, off-plan, property buying environment that had been perpetuated by the availability of inexpensive liquidity, continual launch of inventory that was sold through highly leveraged schemes and a fluid regulatory environment. The Dubai realty landscape now consists of aspiring homeowners who are buying homes to live in and home sellers who are either downgrading or upgrading their homes or selling to invest in their home countries [where there are abundant opportunities as well] or leaving Dubai for good. It also consists of a graveyard of speculators, large and small, caught out by the sudden end of an incredible price boom, who, for one reason or another, thought that it would never end,” says Omer Gani, CEO of Fine and Country.

Industry officials believe that while the past year has been tough the outcome is good for the market in the long term. “Each phase impacted the market in its own way, but I think what we’re seeing now is a maturing of the real estate sector. Many of the unsustainable practices and price gouging have been eliminated from the equation leaving behind a more sustainable model.” said Kaan.

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Prayer Timings

Time difference between UAE emirates: Abudhabi: +4 minutes: RAK: -4 minutes: Fujairah: -6 minutes

Hijri 1431	January 2010	Day	Fajr (AM)	Dhuhur (PM)	Asr (PM)	Magrib (PM)	Isha (PM)
Muharram15	1	Fri	5:44	12:27	3:27	5:43	7:13
Muharram16	2	Sat	5:44	12:27	3:27	5:43	7:13
Muharram17	3	Sun	5:44	12:27	3:27	5:44	7:14
Muharram18	4	Mon	5:44	12:27	3:27	5:45	7:15
Muharram19	5	Tue	5:44	12:27	3:27	5:46	7:16
Muharram20	6	Wed	5:44	12:27	3:28	5:46	7:16
Muharram21	7	Thur	5:45	12:27	3:28	5:47	7:17
Muharram22	8	Fri	5:45	12:27	3:28	5:48	7:18
Muharram23	9	Sat	5:45	12:27	3:29	5:48	7:18
Muharram24	10	Sun	5:45	12:27	3:29	5:49	7:19
Muharram25	11	Mon	5:45	12:27	3:29	5:50	7:20
Muharram26	12	Tue	5:45	12:28	3:29	5:50	7:20
Muharram27	13	Wed	5:46	12:28	3:30	5:51	7:21
Muharram28	14	Thur	5:46	12:28	3:30	5:52	7:22
Muharram29	15	Fri	5:46	12:28	3:31	5:53	7:23
Safar 1	16	Sat	5:46	12:29	3:32	5:53	7:23
Safar 2	17	Sun	5:46	12:29	3:33	5:54	7:24
Safar 3	18	Mon	5:46	12:29	3:34	5:55	7:25
Safar 4	19	Tue	5:45	12:30	3:35	5:56	7:26
Safar 5	20	Wed	5:45	12:30	3:36	5:57	7:27
Safar 6	21	Thur	5:45	12:31	3:36	5:57	7:27
Safar 7	22	Fri	5:45	12:31	3:37	5:58	7:28
Safar 8	23	Sat	5:44	12:32	3:38	5:59	7:29
Safar 9	24	Sun	5:44	12:32	3:39	6:00	7:30
Safar 10	25	Mon	5:44	12:32	3:39	6:00	7:30
Safar 11	26	Tue	5:44	12:33	3:40	6:01	7:31
Safar 12	27	Wed	5:43	12:33	3:41	6:02	7:32
Safar 13	28	Thur	5:43	12:34	3:42	6:03	7:33
Safar 14	29	Fri	5:43	12:35	3:43	6:0	7:34
Safar 15	30	Sat	5:42	12:35	3:43	6:05	7:35
Safar 16	31	Sun	5:42	12:36	3:44	6:05	7:35

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Dubai’s “superscraper” makes history in hard times

Started at the height of the economic boom and built by some 12,000 labourers, the world’s tallest building will open on Monday in Dubai as the glitzy emirate seeks to rekindle optimism after its financial crisis.

Burj Dubai, whose opening has been delayed twice since construction began in 2004, will mark another milestone for the deeply indebted emirate with a penchant for seeking new records.

Dubai, one of seven members of the United Arab Emirates, gained a reputation for excess with the creation of man-made islands shaped like palms and an indoor ski slope in the desert.

With investor confidence in Dubai badly bruised by the emirate’s announcement in November that it would seek a debt standstill for one of its largest conglomerates, the Burj Dubai is seen as a positive start to the year after a bleak 2009.

The project has been scrutinised by human rights groups, who have objected to its treatment of labourers, as well as by environmentalists who said the tower would act as a power vacuum, increasing the city’s already massive carbon footprint.

But despite the criticism, many say the edifice, believed to have cost $1.5 billion to build, is an architectural marvel.

The tower’s height has been kept a closely guarded secret until now. Developer Emaar Properties PJSC will reveal the height — known to exceed 800 metres (2,625 feet) — on Tuesday and Dubai’s ruler will inaugurate the opening.

Experts believe Dubai’s recent financial troubles have not hurt sales of approximately 1,100 residential units in the Burj — meaning tower in Arabic — saying they were nearly all sold.

Dubai’s real estate sector crashed at the end of 2008 when the global financial crisis hit the emirate after a six-year economic boom. Thousands of jobs were slashed and projects worth billions of dollars were cancelled or delayed.

With analysts suggesting tax-free Dubai might sell some of its assets to boost revenues and slash $80 billion in debt, many wondered if the tower was on the list for grabs.

Dubai, with few natural resources of its own, expects a budget deficit of 2 percent of GDP this year. [ID:nLDE5BU07K]

In December, the emirate received a $10 billion lifeline from neighbouring Abu Dhabi to repay a $4.1 billion bond for Nakheel, a property arm of indebted Dubai World [DBWLD.UL], and other obligations.

(Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)

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