Pakistan Property & Real Estate News

Jinnah Garden scheme declared illegal by CDA

ISLAMABAD: Residential scheme Jinnah Garden sponsored by chairperson Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education has been declared illegal by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) while the high court has also issued stay order against this scheme.

In a public notice issued by director housing society CDA, Ashiq Ali Ghauri, it was said that lay out plan of Jinnah Garden phase-1 containing 1037 residential plots and measuring 1069 kanal area sponsored by Federal Employees Housing Society (FEHS) was approved on April, 26, 2006. An amended lay out plan containing 2776.29 kanal area was filed. Objection have been raised on the ownership of the land and proceedings are underway. As lay out plan has not been approved therefore, the sale and purchase of plots and development work in the housing schemes is illegal.

CFA has warned the general public against purchasing or selling the plots in the non approved Jinnah Garden phase-1 scheme. The society management has also been directed not to start any development work without obtaining NOC.

Federal board sources told chairperson Shaheen Khan had released funds amounting to Rs 260 million for Jinnah garden scheme without inviting tenders. Overall 750 million rupees have been allocated for this scheme.

Some employees have obtained stay order from Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench against the investment made in the society out of employees fund. Despite the stay order, the chairperson Federal Board has got the scheme inaugurated by federal education minister Sardar Asif Ahmad Ali.

DHA City master plan agreement signed

Karachi: Defence Officers Housing Authority’s (DHA) City’s master and town planning would complete by 2011 while around 30,000 residential and commercial plots have been allotted to the people in Phase-I.

In this regard, the DHA administration signed an agreement on Friday for consultancy services with Greek-based firm Doxiadis Associates, United Kingdom-based firm RMJM Architects and national consultancy firm Osmani and Company (Pvt) Ltd. The master planning consultancy would cover an area of 11,640 acres on Super Highway.

DHA Administrator Brig Khalid Masood Tirmizi said the project would be developed as per modern principles of town planning. The DHA would use environment-friendly utilities including solar and wind energy, and would pursue renewable energy projects in the DHA city, he added.

Meanwhile, consultancy services consortium’s Dr Pollalis said latest national and global standards would be implemented during the development to make it a comfortable living and recreational experience. staff report.

UK property values soar in the last ten years, according to research report

The value of property in the UK has soared by over £2,000 billion in ten years and the traditional north-south divide is narrowing, new research shows. The total value of privately owned housing stock in the UK more than doubled over the past decade, a report from the Halifax shows.

There was an 118% increase from £1,719 billion in 1999 to an estimated £3,755 billion in 2009. During the same period, the retail price index rose by 29%.

The significant increase of £2,000 billion over the ten year period is equivalent to £33,000 per head of the UK population, it points out.

However, since 2007 the value of housing stock in the UK has declined by 8%, largely due to the global economic downturn. This reflects the reduction in house prices between the middle of 2007 and early 2009. The improvement in house prices in 2009 saw housing value grow by an estimated 2% during the year.

The research also shows that the north/south gap in the value of the country’s private housing stock narrowed during the noughties. Between 1999 and 2009, the value of housing in the north increased by 132% compared to 109% in the south. As a result, the north’s share of UK housing assets rose from 41% in 1999 to 44% in 2009.

Regionally, Northern Ireland saw the biggest increase in property value with a 198% rise from £31 billion in 1999 to £92 billion in 2009. The next largest rises were in the North East, 147%, Scotland, 145%, Yorkshire and the Humber 139% and East Midlands at 133%. The smallest increases were in the South East (100%) and the East of England and West Midlands both at 107%.

All regions have recorded a decline in the value of their housing stock since 2007. London dropped 5%, the North East was down 7%, the North West 8% and the South East fell 8%. In Northern Ireland the value of housing is estimated to have fallen by 19% since 2007, following a dramatic rise in the preceding few years.

‘The past decade has seen a substantial increase in the value of housing assets in the UK, with all regions recording average annual increases of 7% to 12%. Notably, there are real signs of a narrowing north-south divide as the northern regions recorded bigger increases,’ said Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax.

Better protection needed for international real estate buyers in the Gulf region, poll shows

International buyers who invest in real estate in the Gulf region should be better protected, according to a new survey.

More than 70% of people think additional protection measures would help inspire more confidence in the region’s property markets, the poll for Arabian Business shows.

Only 2.2% of people said current regulations were sufficient, while 16.8% said it was up to individuals to do their own due diligence.

A further 7.3% of those who took part in the poll warned new laws would lead to the return of speculators to the market and artificially inflated real estate prices.

At the moment, the only option for investors of a stalled or cancelled project is the civil courts, which have seen an increase in disputes in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Steps to address the uncertainty facing investors have already been taken in the United Arab Emirates with the introduction of the Strata Law last month, and a new scheme that offers Dubai investors and developers a ‘government guarantee’.

The Land Department’s Tayseer scheme, announced at the start of July, covers 40 projects in the emirate and effectively guarantees their finance and completion. The scheme’s first phase covers projects which are under construction or almost finished, including developments in Business Bay, Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Lake Towers.

Some companies are also looking at ways to help property investors who have lost out as prices in places like Dubai have plunged 50% since their peak at the end of 2008. The Smith and Ken agency has launched a service to help investors of off plan property recover the value of their purchases.

It says its Real Estate Recovery Scheme works via a like for like credit note to the value of what they have already paid against one of its properties.

‘There is always an element of risk involved when investing in off shore development plans even though you do a thorough background check on the developer and the property. There are situations that are beyond one’s control like worldwide economic challenges or the developer going bust,’ said Benjamin Smith, the company’s chief executive officer.

‘Our Real Estate Recovery Scheme (RERS) aims to help investors in such unfortunate circumstances. Whether they have put down a 10% deposit on the property or paid up a larger percentage, we will help them to recover their money by swapping units in most delayed or cancelled developments for thriving completed properties in prime UAE and international locations,’ he explained.

Once an application for RERS is approved by Smith and Ken, the company invites the investor to choose a new property, and once it is done, Smith and Ken deducts the amount the investor has already paid from their new apartment, office space or plot of land.

‘Apart from more financing options and government regulations, innovative schemes like RERS are key to a recovery in the property market,’ Smith added.

Surin beach on Phuket attracting wealthy property interest

A quiet part of Phuket is becoming a new bolt hole for the rich and celebrities as they buy or rent properties, often with fine sea views, it is claimed.

The Surin Beach area on the Phuket road that circles Thailand’s largest island is often regarded as a sleepy beach village that is just a thoroughfare between famed Millionaires’ Mile on Kamala Beach and the ritzy Laguna neighborhood.

‘Surin Beach is becoming an iconic Asian island getaway for the rich and famous come to unwind,’ said Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks, Asia Pacific’s leading hospitality consultancy firms.

‘They are drawn to Surin for complete privacy in an exotic Asian destination, be it a mega villa overlooking the stunning Phuket west coast or a cruise to Phang Nga Bay in a super yacht. As a sign of the times, Phuket International Airport is building a private jet terminal to handle the growing number of these affluent arrivals flocking to the area,’ he added.

Now recognized as one of the world's most beautiful and hippest tropical destinations, Surin Beach showcases luxury Asian icons like the trendy Chedi hotel and the ultra exclusive Amanpuri where models like Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss and actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Kevin Spacey have vacationed over the last few years.

Surin also continues to host a growing number of the island’s best restaurants and beach clubs like Twin Palm’s Catch Beach Club and the hip Stereo Lab. On the mountainside, which is not visible from main road, the landscape is dotted with private luxury villas.

‘“We are seeing the Surin luxury market starting to mature as affluent individuals are demanding property and vacation rental villas that deliver privacy and a five star experience,’ said Joanne Baylis, founder of Awesome Villas.

It is becoming known as the Asian Rivera and the region is consistently rated as one of the world’s greatest sailing, diving and golfing playgrounds with its countless beaches and natural wonders to explore.

Local real estate agents also point out that Phuket has a broad range of world class hospitals, restaurants, nightlife and shopping and with an international airport that offers a huge number of flights on the world’s major carriers to all major gateways. In addition, up to 50 private jets arrive each week during the high season, as the international elite fly in and out of the island on an increasingly regular basis.

Tough times ahead for Sharjah landlords

Sharjah's landlords have had it rough for some time now, with the steep drop in rentals in Dubai. The latest round of power failures could send fed-up tenants fleeing to the neighbouring emirate, they fear.

Sharjah: Sharjah's landlords have had it rough for some time now, what with their having to compete with the steep drop in rentals in Dubai. But the going may have become a lot tougher.

Headlines blaring "Sharjah swelters" brought about by successive power failures in recent days would, of course, be no inducement for anyone considering a shift of residences to the emirate.

In fact, the challenge for the landlords is to retain their present tenants and not lose them to locations in Dubai such as Discovery Gardens, Mirdif or Al Ghusais.

The canny ones have already reduced their rents to stay competitive with their Dubai counterparts, and they might now be forced to offer more incentives in the wake of the power crisis when it comes to tenancy renewals. There are also the large numbers of new residential high-rises that are nearing completion.

"One of the major factors underlying Sharjah's rental adjustment is the amount of supply coming to the market," said a new report issued by Asteco on the situation in the northern emirates during the second quarter.

"However, we have witnessed over the last few months that there is some interest in these areas as some towers have been completed, providing tenants with low rents, larger properties and better facilities."

Until the latest power crisis broke out, there was a sentiment in real estate circles that the rate of decline among apartments had eased.

As a case in point, three-bedroom apartments in Al Nahda and Al Khan recorded an average decline of four per cent in the second quarter, after falling nine per cent in the first quarter.

Although studio apartments recorded no rental change, one- and two-bedroom units experienced drops of eight and four per cent respectively.

At the same time, the on-going decline continues to be steeper in the villa category.

"The rental rate for a typical three-bedroom apartment has put downward pressure on the villa market, particularly given the variances in accessibility, quality and value for money," the report added.

Now, it remains to be seen how Sharjah's residents — and landlords, for that matter — factor in the fallout from the power breakdown during their upcoming contract renewals.

These are interesting times as tenants could use this as a bargaining chip to get their rents reduced further. And it remains to be seen how well landlords can counter these arguments.

North South divide opening up as development land in UK slowly edges up, report shows

Competition for development land is at last boosting development values, but a real gulf is emerging between small sites in high demand housing markets, particularly in London and the South East, according to new research from property adviser, Savills.

By contrast, the longer term promotion and preparation costs associated with larger sites continues to take its toll on value growth and many remain mothballed and unsaleable, it also points out.

Across the country some developers have recapitalised and are actively seeking land, creating competition again for small ‘easy’ sites in areas with an identifiable housing need or shortage. The rarity factor of such sites in prime locations is really driving up prices, in some cases now within 20% of peak 2007 levels, the research says.

The average value of residential development land showed growth, albeit modest, over the past three months. Greenfield land values rose by an average of 3.2% and urban land values by 3.8%, taking annual growth rates to 16.6% and 14.1% respectively.

‘Average growth figures disguise huge variations and need to be treated with some caution,’ says Yolande Barnes, head of residential research at Savills. ‘The development land market is now polarised on virtually every level: between North and South; high and low value housing markets; large, infrastructure-hungry sites and small easy to develop de-risked sites,’ she added.

‘More than ever, those in the market need to evaluate sites on a case by case basis, since the value of each site and, ultimately, its ability to generate revenue, will be determined by regional and, in many cases, highly localised factors,’ she added.

The research shows that the North South divide has become more entrenched. South East greenfield values are growing fastest and are now just 37% below their 2007 peak, driven by strong demand for ready to build, greenfield sites. This reflects growing developer confidence based firmly on the underlying resilience of its residential market and an acute shortage of suitable land, in particular sites which meet their risk averse requirement for land that delivers, Barnes explained.

But urban, brownfield values in the North continue to slide, down -2.2% in the quarter, still 71% from their peak in the extreme North of England. ‘Such sites require promotional capital beyond the means of a fundamentally cautious and under capitalised market. Urban land values, particularly the larger sites, therefore continue to languish,’ she said.

In most locations, speculative city centre apartment building for buy to let is a thing of the past. The most viable sites are those that can be developed for high density family houses. The viable apartment market has shifted from small units for highly geared investors/first time buyers towards larger, more upmarket product so land for apartments in prime areas has begun to show signs of life.

The value of small to medium sized consented residential development land in London has risen by 21% over the past six months, with fierce competition being seen for the best sites. But transaction levels are still low, albeit much improved on a year ago.

Despite this sharp increase the market is still 29% below peak, which suggests that current values for the best and most easily develop able sites, could be improved upon or, at the very least, maintained.

Falling Greek property prices offer tempting price for real estate investors

Average real estate prices in Greece fell 7.7% in the first quarter of 2010 from a year earlier as the country steers through its first recession in over a decade. As the country struggles to over come its debt problems it is perhaps no surprise that property is not immune to the financial woes and it does provide opportunities for real estate investors to buy at a low price.

The picture is mixed as some parts of the country have seen prices fall more than others, according to figures from Propindex and the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research.

Prices fell 5.4% in the Attica region, which includes the capital Athens and 9.8% in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second biggest city. Prices dropped 12.6% in the rest of Greece in the first quarter.

Apartment prices fell last year to 2006 levels following a two year rise, according to the report which uses bank figures, including those of Greece’s three biggest lenders.

Commercial property vacancies in Athens increased 1% from the first quarter of 2009 to 17.7%, a rising trend since 2007, the report also shows.

The Greek economy is in recession and Prime Minister George Papandreou has raised taxes, cut wages and reduced spending in a bid to tame a deficit that reached 13.6% of gross domestic product last year, more than four times the European Union limit.

Changes to the real estate tax system are currently being examined by government officials. Taxes on real estate transactions in Greece are currently based on the government’s assessment of the property’s value, which considers the area and the amenities, rather than the actual market value, which is generally higher. Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou proposes to change this next year to bring in more revenue and mean higher costs for buyers and sellers.

The low prices offer bargains for buy to rent property investors who aim to let out their properties during the busy summer holiday season. Top of the range luxury villas in parts of Greece can fetch €5,000 a week in rent.

It has also been reported that the Greek government is proposing to sell or offer long term leases on property it owns on the country’s 6,000 islands to bring in much needed cash. Mykonos, which is one third owned by the government, is expected to be one of the first to be offered. It is likely to go to a real estate investor who can not only afford the price of the sale itself but who is also willing and able to invest cash into developing a new luxury tourist complex on the island.

Thai property developers looking for opportunities in Vietnam and Cambodia, according to consultants

Thai property developers are starting to look at overseas markets for new opportunities because of the intense competition in the Thai market, according to international property consultants CB Richard Ellis. They are looking, in the first instance at nearby markets in Vietnam and Cambodia because of their proximity, level of development and the fact that local competition is not as well developed as the more mature markets such as Malaysia, the consultants say.

‘There are a wide range of opportunities in the Vietnamese and Cambodian markets from city centre office, retail, residential and hotel developments through to the growing resort markets in these countries as well as industrial estate opportunities,’ said James Pitchon, head of research and consulting at CBRE Thailand.

He reckons it will prove a challenge for the developers as rules and regulations governing property development and ownership are different in other countries and the dynamics of each of the property sectors in these countries is also different to Thailand.

‘Accurate information on regulations, supply, demand, pricing, competitors and prospects for each property sector is essential for a Thai developer to succeed in a new market,’ he explained.

CBRE established offices in Vietnam in 2003 and now has over 200 real estate professionals operating out of offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Danang. Its research, consulting and marketing teams have already worked with a large number of overseas developers who have successfully built projects in both the main cities and resort areas.

CBRE established and office in Phnom Penh in 2009 and have been advising clients on the Cambodian market for many years before the office opened. David Simister, chairman of CBRE Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam advised the Australian Government on the acquisition of a new site for their Phnom Penh Embassy in 2005.

‘There is very little publicly available information on the Vietnamese or Cambodian markets. CBRE sells and leases properties in these countries everyday which is why we have the best market data on actual transactions and future supply. This enables us to provide our clients with the best market data giving them the best knowledge to enable them to succeed,’ said Pitchon.

He believes that there are opportunities for Thai developers to acquire or build properties in both Cambodia and Vietnam but accurate market research will be critical in order to succeed.

Dubai developer’s overseas expansion grinds to a halt with Malaysia sell off

Limitless, the property arm of struggling state conglomerate Dubai World which was set up to expand overseas business, is backing out of a plan to build hundreds of luxury homes in Malaysia as it looks to shore up its finances. Cash strapped Limitless is selling off its stake in a partnership with Malaysia’s Bandar Raya Developments to develop waterfront land in the southern city of Nusajaya in what is also a blow for the region as foreign investment declines.

Limitless, which was set up in 2006 to focus mainly on overseas development and is now under the management if its sister company Nakheel, hopes to sell its 60% share for $23.8 million.

The project has been part of an ambitious plan to cash in on growing demand in south east Asia for property. Limitless formed joint ventures with developers in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. Among them were the $220 million Halong Star mixed use development in Vietnam and the $1.7 billion Rasuna Epicentrum in Jakarta.

Asked what would happen now in the region a company spokeswoman said; ‘We continue to review our business activity to reflect market conditions’. She added that the Limitless office in Singapore is still open.

Work has started on overseas projects in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Vietnam but others in Russia, India and Pakistan have been either stalled or slowed. Plans for a waterfront development in Karachi have been cancelled and a housing project with India’s largest developer DLF near Bangalore has also stalled.

The move comes as Nakheel, the developer behind Dubai’s iconic palm shaped man made islands, is hoping to sign a debt restructuring deal at a meeting with financial creditors on Wednesday as it restructures $10.5 billion of debt. Dubai World owes financial and trade creditors total of $23.5 billion. Nakheel has already started paying trade creditors 40% of the amount owing as part of a wide ranging offer announced in March.

Meanwhile Dubai Properties, part of the business empire of the emirate’s ruler, plans to hold an auction for three beach side plots of land next month as Dubai struggles under a weight of sovereign and corporate debt.

Dubai Properties, part of Dubai Holding, said in an advertisement that the auction would take place on August 29 for the lease of three beach club plots at Jumeirah Beach Residence Community.

Credit rating agency Moody’s last week downgraded Dubai Holding’s loss making main operating arm, Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG), to B2 in its highly speculative category of ratings, taking account of weakness in Dubai’s real estate market and uncertainty over the company’s debt restructuring.

Massive increase in property millionaires in UK, research shows

There has been a five fold increase in property millionaires in the UK in the last decade with over 100,000 new property millionaires created since 2000, according to a new survey That amounts to a staggering 393% increase but the research also shows that there has been a three in ten decrease in millionaire properties during the credit crunch as the global downturn has taken its toll.

The research for Santander Mortgages also reveals that there are currently 131,996 residential properties worth over £1 million in Britain, almost a five-fold increase on the 26,776 that existed in 2000. Most of the million pound plus properties, some 78%, are in London.

While the credit crunch led to over 43,000 homes losing their millionaire status between 2008 and 2009, a 29% reduction, the market in million pound properties has recovered. Over the past year alone, the number of million pound plus properties has risen by around 29,000, returning the number of property millionaires close to its early 2008 peak when there were 147,000 of them.

Around 78%, 103,168, of these million pound homes are in Greater London, with the capital’s South West postcode claiming nearly 29% of the nation’s millionaire properties. Indeed, postcodes in London and the Home Counties including towns such as Guildford, Kingston upon Thames and Hemel Hempstead occupy the top ten places in Santander Mortgages’ Property Millionaire League Table.

London’s South East postcode area has showed a staggering 23 fold increase in its number of property millionaires in the past decade.

Edinburgh is the first non South East area of the country in the league, coming in at eleventh place with 1,665 million pound plus properties. Warrington is in twentieth place in the table, with 1,066 property millionaires and Bournemouth is twenty second with 870.

‘For many of us our home is our castle and in recent years we’ve often viewed our home as a key investment too. Whether you’re a property millionaire or not, prospective buyers and those remortgaging need to ensure they get a fair deal on their house and mortgage,’ said Phil Cliff, director of mortgages at Santander.

Nigel Lewis, property analyst at PrimeLocation.com said it is amazing how fast million-pound plus property prices have recovered since the dark days of 2008 when the market experienced significant price reductions. ‘The research shows that the number of million pound homes for sale has risen considerably over the past year and the number of people looking to buy them has also jumped by 20% so it’s no wonder that the prime property market is recovering so fast,’ he added.

US commercial property sales sluggish as foreclosure flood falls to materialise

US commercial real estate sales in the first half of 2010 were just a quarter of the average of the previous six years as owners kept properties off the market, according to a new figures. Buyers and sellers completed $34.2 billion of deals, some 26% of the average first half dollar volume since 2004, according to data from Real Capital Analytics.

The total was about 12% of the 2007 peak, when $277.7 billion of properties changed hands in the same period but the report shows that sales increased 58% from last year’s first half when purchases dried up after the US credit crisis and recession sent values tumbling.

Demand for properties is strongest in New York, Boston, Washington and San Francisco with these four markets accounted for 20% of first half sales, compared with about 15% last year, according to Real Capital.

But a lack of available properties is leading to a lot of frustration in the commercial real estate sector and has sparked demand for the few deals being offered, according to Alan Kava, co-head of Goldman Sachs Group’s Real Estate Principal Investment Area in New York.

‘People are frustrated that not a lot has been trading. When something does come to market, that lack of supply is causing almost a feeding frenzy. People have real estate funds that are not on an infinite time line, they need to put capital to work,’ he explained.

One reason that there are a lot of buyers and few sellers is that much of the money raised by private equity firms was in anticipation of a rush of foreclosure sales that failed to materialize, according to Sam Chandan, Real Capital’s chief economist.

In top cities such as New York and Washington, owners who owe more than their properties are worth are instead finding new sources of equity and lenders are willing to restructure their loans, he said.

‘Many people were looking to acquire distressed assets, but those opportunities have been few and far between. That’s been leading to bidding more aggressively for some of these core assets,’ he added.

Also record low interest rates make it easier for owners to hold a distressed property.

‘The Armageddon scenario that several people predicted two or three years ago just hasn’t occurred. Part of it is the lenders realize the current borrowers are in a better position to work out problems than they the lenders are,’ said Tom August, president and chief executive officer of Equity Office Properties, a unit of Blackstone Group.

There is little incentive for owners who bought as the market climbed to sell now. Values in April were down 41% from their October 2007 peak, according to figures from Moody’s Commercial Property Price Index.

Freehold property owners in Dubai facing major maintenance charges under new rules

Property owners in the freehold areas of Dubai could be hit by major maintenance charges which should have been identified prior to purchase, according to the property management arm of a leading real estate developer. ‘Some owners are jeopardising the return on their investments by not adequately accounting for depreciation on MEP equipment,’ said Mazen Falhout, General Manager, MAGme Property Solutions, a division of the MAG Group.

Dubai property owners now have the opportunity to play an active role in the management of their properties as the new owners’ association management regulations, implemented by Dubai’s Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) come into effect.

But full implementation of the regulations means that as well as routine maintenance and upkeep charges, owners will have to pay premiums to cover complete building insurance as well as an emergency reserve or ‘sinking’ fund to take care of larger maintenance work or replacement of essential equipment.

These funds are essential to accumulate a reserve fund over time which helps to enhance not only the value of property for the current owner, but makes it more attractive for prospective buyers and the secondary market. It is also important that buyers verify whether such allocations have been made in the service fee budget before deciding to buy, the company points out.

‘When considering a real estate investment, prospective owners should always seek advice from professionals who can evaluate all potential operational costs, as well calculating depreciation or the appropriate deposits for a sinking fund,’ explained Falhout.

He says that for example, to replace a chiller in an average tower building costs around AED2 to 3 million and that amount must be built-in over ten years when it reaches the end of its working life. If there is no sinking' fund, owners have to foot the entire bill at that point of time which could be substantial.

As there is no conformity with common areas, each building or community must be assessed on a case by case basis, by professionals who understand maintenance of the complex engineering in these developments.

‘In tower buildings it could be something as simple as electricity supply for lifts, air conditioning, pool chillers, lighting and even car park barriers. With rents falling at least 40% over the last 12 months, many owners are now faced with fees that they cannot simply pass on to tenants if they want to remain competitive in the market,’ said Falhout.

‘What might seem on the surface to be a good sales price may not be cost effective over time, when the so called hidden capital and their respective operational expenses have been factored in,’ he added.

Prior to June 2008, investors did not care too much about service charges or operational costs, many were only speculating on the rising price. ‘Now that party is over and owners now have to be responsible for their investments,’ he pointed out.

MAGme was specifically set up to provide an array of real estate management services from sales and marketing to property management and owners' association management. With so much stock to be completed over the next five years, Falhout believes that the property management sector will grow substantially over that period.

Govt and analysts expects property prices in China to fall by up to 20% in coming months

Senior Chinese officials are claiming that they have no plans to launch a new round of property market tightening as they expect prices to fall considerably in coming months.

Wang Yulin, deputy research head at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development, said the government would step up efforts to implement tightening measures which have already been announced to rein in the real estate market, including curbs on purchases of multiple homes and restrictions on lending to property developers, but no new measures were in the offing.

And Minister of Land and Resources, Xu Shaoshi, said that he expects property prices to fall in the third quarter of the hear as the tightening measures take hold. He added that China’s property market would not experience a hard landing this year.

Opinion varies over how much prices could fall. According to Michael Klibaner, head of research at consultants Jones Lang LaSalle, they could fall as much as 20% in what he described as ‘a healthy fall’.

‘We actually expect a very healthy correction, something in the order of 15 or % in terms of price correction. But we don’t see any reason why there will be a risk of a crash at the moment,’ he said.

China’s property boom is cash driven rather than leverage fuelled, which means there’s only a low chance of the type of forced selling that exacerbated the US housing market collapse, he said.

But this view contrasts with Harvard University’s Kenneth Rogoff’s prediction of a collapse in China’s property market that will hit the nation’s banking system. ‘You’re starting to see that collapse in property and it’s going to hit the banking system,’ said Rogoff, the former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund.

Nomura Holdings economists Sun Mingchun and Sun Chi also believe that average property prices are set to fall up to 20% in the next 12 to 18 months but they don’t believe it will have a big impact on China’s economy.

Property prices in 70 Chinese cities rose 12.4% in May, the second fastest pace on record, heightening concern a bubble is forming in the nation’s housing market.

But a report earlier this week from Changjiang Securities suggested that Shanghai’s new home sales fell 70% from a year ago in June. While a report from Uwin Real Estate Information Services said that sales of new homes in the city fell 57% in the first six months of the year, the lowest in five years. But it found that new home prices rose 48% from a year earlier.

Looking forward Uwin also expects prices to fall by 10 to 15%. ‘Shanghai property prices are likely to head downward further in the coming months as sales continue to decline and the government shows firm determination to curb the prices rises,’ said Lu Qilin, a Shanghai based researcher at Uwin.

Housing scheme for lawyers

Lahore: CHIEF Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has said that lawyers are in the forefront for the dispensation of justice to people and it is the duty of the government to fulfil their needs. He agreed with the proposals of the Lahore High Court Bar President for establishing a housing scheme for it members besides financial support to the Bar to meet its expenses.He was holding a meeting with the office-bearers of the LHCBA’s Executive Committee, led by its President Mian Abdul Qadus, at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat here on Monday.

The CM said a committee, headed by Punjab law minister, should review the proposals in consultation with the office-bearers of the Bar and present its recommendations within seven days for their speedily implementation. He said plots should be allotted to only those lawyers in the housing scheme who did not own a house. He said the government would provide land for the housing scheme for lawyers and carry out the development work. He said it might not be possible to allot plots to all the members of the Bar, therefore, the allotment would be done through balloting in the first phase. He also issued directions for immediate measures for the expansion of Lahore High Court Bar Hall, adding that setting up an IT lab in the Bar would also be considered.

Shahbaz said provision of prompt and inexpensive justice to people was the top priority of the Punjab government as no society could flourish without justice. He said the struggle and sacrifices made by lawyers for the supremacy of justice and restoration of judiciary were a golden chapter of the national history. He said the basic aim of providing assistance to bar associations and lawyers should be provision of quick and inexpensive justice to people and the Punjab government would provide all possible assistance in this regard.

The chief minister said the Punjab government was working on low-cost housing schemes and the Punjab Land Development Company had been set up for this purpose. He said a quota had also been reserved for the deserving, including widows, in the schemes. Regarding free medical facility, the CM said the Punjab government had taken revolutionary steps for improvement of health sector and free medicines, dialysis facility and modern diagnostic equipments had been provided in hospitals.