Dubai and Abu Dhabi trail in skyscrapers investment list

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.8pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Skyscrapers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are trailing far behind the leading cities in a list of the world's priciest high-rise real estate.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.8pt; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">The two UAE cities were placed 16th and 18th respectively in the global ranking, according to findings by Knight Frank.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.8pt; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Hong Kong and Tokyo staved off all challengers to claim the top spots. New York’s Manhattan was ranked third.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.8pt; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">The consultancy listed Dubai’s “prime capital value” at Dubai’s priciest skyscraper as commanding $6,896 (Dh25,308) per square metre, while Abu Dhabi’s is estimated at $6,251. However, the costliest piece of skyscraper real estate in Hong Kong is estimated at a substantial $69,222, Tokyo’s at $42,283 and Manhattan’s at $25,740.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> <div style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">“While Hong Kong and Tokyo are too far ahead to lose first and second place, I see some competition amongst Manhattan, London and Singapore in the coming year,” said James Roberts, head of commercial research at Knight Frank. (The Knight Frank Skyscraper Index bases the commercial value on an analysis of the capital value of upper-storey floor space.)<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Local market sources say that Burj Khalifa is not the runaway winner when it comes to skyscraper values in Dubai.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> “New launches in Downtown have been taking place in the range of Dh2,000-2,800 a square foot for off-plan properties and certain units in Residences — especially two- and three-beds facing Burj Khalifa and the Fountain — are already at Dh3,500-4,000 per square foot,” said Niraj Masand, partner at Banke M.E. “Burj Khalifa units are available in the secondary market at between Dh3,800-4,200 a square foot.”<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <strong style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; outline: 0px;"></strong></div> <br /> <div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <strong style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; outline: 0px;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; padding: 0cm;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></strong></div> <div style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"> <strong><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Good upswing</span></strong><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div> <div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">During the absolute peak of Dubai’s property market prior to late 2008, Burj Khalifa residential units were quoting in the range of Dh 8,000 a square foot. (The project itself was completed in late 2009 and the handovers started from early 2010.)<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">“While the rest of the market has seen a good upswing, the best of Burj Khalifa is still to come,” Masand said. “Over the last six months there has been a resurgence in demand for apartments in Burj Khalifa. Typically, trophy towers gain demand when there is a resurgence of confidence in the markets and this is a prime example.”<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">In Abu Dhabi, the Sun and Sky towers on Al Reem Island lord it over the emirate’s skyscrapers, with values in the Dh1,500 a square foot and over range depending on the floor level, etc, according to Robin The, country manager for the UAE at Chesterton International.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">As to what this year holds for global skyscrapers and their investors, Roberts said: “In London there is renewed confidence thanks to better than expected economic growth and rising rents in the office market and I suspect London could overtake Singapore.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">“Given the economic uncertainty in emerging markets, in 2014 we will probably see some of the Asian cities slide down the table, and more western cities on the rise.”<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">Article source: http://bit.ly/1hf7Dt1</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> </div>

Skyscrapers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are trailing far behind the leading cities in a list of the world's priciest high-rise real estate....

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Global Property Investment Volumes to Hit $1.3 Trillion in 2014!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.6pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The global property investment market delivered  $1.2 trillion of transactions in  2013, a 22.6 percent increase from 2012 and the highest total since 2007, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest International Investment Atlas report.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.6pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Global real estate investment owes this rebirth to market activity and values picking up in 2013 as recessions came to an end and business sentiment resurged, ergo increased liquidity affected most global markets.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.6pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now looking ahead into 2014, the commercial real estate services firm is forecasting a 13 percent increase in investment globally to $1.3 trillion, with the United States and Western Europe seen as the major drivers of the increase in activity.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.6pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> “The uplift will be driven by an even stronger weight of capital but critical to the growth is a modest increase in supply from profit taking, the start of new development, a move up the risk curve and notably in Europe, as distressed assets are sold be restructuring banks,” David Hutchings, head of  EMEA investment strategy, and the lead analyst on the C&W report, told</span><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <i>Commercial Property Executive</i></span><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. “The increased demand meanwhile stems from rising pension and institutional allocations as well as individual demand for a real asset, which offers a relative real yield but an ability to see that grow over time as economies recover.”<o:p></o:p></span></div> <br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.6pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the report, Hutchings added that core markets continue to be in high demand, but a search for stock, for yield and for performance has rapidly led investors to look further afield, in such emerging markets as Asia and second-tier U.S. cities along with Southern Europe, promoting a deeper recovery this year. He concluded that if investors can see past the politics, the U.S. market  must be strongly placed to outperform in 2014. All fundamentals point to good growth and the U.S. market will be increasingly a target for international capital.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.6pt; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 13.6pt;">Read the full report here: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 18.133333206176758px;"><span style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">http://bit.ly/1g5nfTw</span></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 10.2pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 13.6pt;">Article source: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 18.133333206176758px;"><span style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">http://bit.ly/1fU9ebe</span></span></span></div> </div>

The global property investment market delivered  $1.2 trillion of transactions in  2013, a 22.6 percent increase from 2012 and the highest...

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