Nahkeel is the latest developer to offer discounts to investors who pay on time: between 10 and 30 per cent off for those who have bought in Jumeirah Island Mansions, Jumeirah Heights Clusters, Badrah phases one and two, Marina Residences and Veneto, report The National's Angela Giuffrida and Sarmad Khan.
And salaries for expatriates working in the property and construction sectors have fallen by up to 30 per cent in the past eight months across the GCC, according to data from APG Global, Giuffrida reports. A development director who could once negotiate Dh70,000 ($19,058) a month would today be offered between Dh50,000 and Dh55,000.
Meanwhile, the Hydra Village saga continues. Abu Dhabi Commerical Bank, the main mortgage provider for the project, is no longer providing mortgages to homebuyers in the Abu Dhabi development. "It's a case of not putting our eggs in one basket," Arup Mukhopadhyay, the head of retail banking at ADCB, told Giuffrida. "Hydra has reached that limit." One investor said the investor had been reluctant to lend to the project since Hydra increased the price on some villas after changing the masterplan, which is why the project's completion date has been pushed back until late 2011.
Gulf News reports that senior officials at Dubailand's City of Arabia are considering ideas to build up to 40 villas on the roof top of Mall of Arabia, the centerpiece of the project and destined to become the largest mall in the world once phase two is fully complete.
And Emirates Business 24/7 reports that residential rents in Ras Al Khaimah fell by around 30 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the fourth quarter of 2008, according to property consultants. The year-on-year drop was 34 per cent.