The country's two largest Islamic-compliant home finance companies,
Amlak Finance
and
Tamweel
, may
need as much as Dh18.7bn (US$5.1bn) to meet its financial commitments
, according to an analysis of the first quarter financial statements of the companies by Emirates Business 24/7. Both companies stopped issuing new mortgages in the wake of the economic slowdown and despite frequent talk of a merger, no developments have taken place yet. CL Jose writes that the companies would possibly need to obtain those funds before they could start up again.
Just one property out of 25 was sold at an auction
held by
Sherwoods Real Estate
last week, Angela Giuffrida reports. About a dozen bids were entered, but only one met the reserve price for a 40,000 square foot plot of land near the Dubai International Airport. It sold for Dh750 a sq ft. One participant seemed to sum up the reasons for the reluctance to bid higher:
Anwer Moola
, who owns two apartments on Palm Jumeirah, said: "There's so much bad news, everyone's scared and is holding on to their money... If I had access to the sort of money being asked for, I would buy. A five-bedroom villa, for example, can still be rented for Dh180,000 or Dh190,000 a year."
UAE nationals who received land from the Mohammed bin Rashid Housing Establishment
will receive another five years for construction
to take advantage of a reduction in prices of construction materials, Khaleej Times reports.
The National
.
