Cairo – Mubasher: El Nasr Housing and Development, a subsidiary of the Egyptian Ministry of Public Enterprise, has signed a settlement agreement with Emaar Misr for Development to end a dispute regarding a project located in Mokattam.

Under the deal, Emaar Misr for Development, an Egyptian unit of the UAE-based Emaar Properties, will pay EGP 100 million as a compensation to El Nasr Housing and Development and complete the entire project by mid-2028 as scheduled, according to a statement released by the Egyptian cabinet on Thursday.

Emaar Misr will also be obliged to pay any arbitration expenses incurred by El Nasr Housing and Development.

Emaar Properties still considers to tap into investment opportunities in the most populous Arab nation, chairman of Emaar Properties, Mohamad Al Abbar, said.

Every year, the real estate sector in Egypt attracts huge local and foreign investments.

This has led to the creation of new jobs in the market, Al Abbar added, noting that Emaar Properties has created 15,000 direct and indirect jobs in Egypt.

By: Enas Bahgat

Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Aldar Properties’ stock, listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), has captured 40% of the market’s total liquidity early Monday.

By 11:00 am UAE time, the stock rose by 1.49% to AED 2.05.

The stock has achieved an AED 7.59 million in liquidity after 3.71 million shares were traded through 82 transactions.

Meanwhile, the ADX’s general index added 0.19% to 5,045.38 points.

Cairo – Mubasher: Orascom Construction Plc has signed new contracts worth $1.3 billion during the third quarter of 2019, rising by 150% year-on-year and 39% quarter-on-quarter.

During the first nine months of 2019, total new awards stood at $2.7 billion, registering a 79% growth from $1.5 billion in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) on Monday.

Projects in Egypt accounted for 75% of total new awards in Q3-19 as the company continued to strengthen its leading position in the transportation sector.

A consortium including Orascom Construction will design, establish, and operate and maintain two monorail lines in Egypt.

Moreover, an Orascom Construction joint venture will implement all track works stretching for 160 kilometres for the new electric light rail transit project in the most populous Arab nation.

Meanwhile, projects in the US represented 25% of total new awards in the three-month period ended 30 September with new projects that include additional work in the data centre sector.

The company's estimated consolidated backlog reached $5.1 billion as of the end of last September, compared to $4.2 billion as of 30 September 2018 and $ 4.6 billion as of 30 June 2019.

It is noteworthy that during the first half of 2019, Orascom Construction Plc, listed on the EGX and Nasdaq Dubai, posted a net profit of $67.2 million, compared to $87 million in H1-18.

Dubai - Mubasher: Damac Properties, a leading property developer in the UAE, on Tuesday announced it has completed the final floor slab of the North tower of Damac Tower Nine Elms, the company’s first project in London.

Niall McLoughlin, Senior Vice President at DAMAC Properties, said: “Being our premier development in London, and the first in Europe to be designed in partnership with the legendary Italian fashion house, Versace Home, DAMAC Tower Nine Elms has been a very exciting project for us.

“The premium development was designed to provide a new level of luxury housing in the heart of London, and is set to become a new icon on the city’s skyline. With over half of the units sold, we have received great interest from investors who are seeking premium branded real estate in London, and we are proud to see that the project is progressing ahead of schedule,” he added.

Damac revealed it is optimistic about the demand for new homes in London due to the emerging decrease in prices resulted from uncertainties around Brexit.

Regarding the property market situation in London, McLoughlin commented: “Despite the uncertainty in the UK’s political environment, there is a good demand for new homes, and declining prices and fluctuations in the British pound make for an ideal market for both international investors and buyers.”

The project is being developed by Nine Elms Properties, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Damac International Limited, the project in London’s newly renovated Nine Elms area on the south bank of the River Thames.

Damac Tower Nine Elms is a 50-storey tower comprising studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and features special 'winter gardens'.

In August 2019, the core and floor slabs of the South Tower were 100% completed.

Earlier this year, Damac had secured a $229 million financing package from three leading lenders in order to complete the project.

Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Aldar Investment Properties, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the leading Abu Dhabi-based developer Aldar Properties, has appointed a group of banks to arrange investor meetings ahead of a planned US dollar-denominated sukuk or Islamic bonds, Reuters reported, citing a document issued by one of the banks.

The group of banks includes Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), HSBC, and Standard Chartered, according to the London-based news agency.

The document noted that the company plans to sell sukuk with a 10-year maturity and a benchmark size of not less than $500 million.

On 1 October, Aldar Properties announced it contributed an amount of AED 36 million to the UAE’s national fund Sandooq Al Watan, bringing its total contributions in the fund to AED 120 million.

In the second quarter of 2019, Aldar had recorded a net profit of AED 476 million, versus AED 445 million in Q2-18.

UAE - Mubasher: Residential sale prices in the emirate of Dubai are likely to carry on softening in the remainder of the year by up to 5%, with rental rates slowing by 1% during the third quarter of 2019, according to Chestertons MENA’s Q3-19 Dubai market report.

Oversupplying has been weighing on residential prices and rates in the emirate, the leading international real estate services firm indicated.

Dubai is expected to witness the delivery of 50,000 new units in 2019, surging by 150% from over 20,000 residential units in 2018, the report highlighted.

Nick Witty, managing director of Chestertons MENA, said: “As we anticipated, there were further sales price declines in Q3 for both apartments and villas due to excess supply and muted economic growth. The rental market proved to be more resilient however, with a marked slowdown in the rate of decline.”

“We anticipate the 10-year residency visa, the economic stimulus package and perhaps, more importantly, the introduction of the new Real Estate Committee, which has the mandate to boost demand and control supply, contributing to a more favourable outlook in Q1 2020,” Witty added.

The average villa prices stood below 3% in Q3-19, while apartment prices saw a decrease of 4% as compared to the previous quarter, Chestertons MENA pointed out.

In the villa market, prices at Meadows and Springs remained unchanged at AED 850 per square feet, while it eased by 2% at Palm Jumeirah to AED 1,927 per square feet.

Meanwhile, the highest decline was marked at Arabian Ranches at 5% to AED 793 per square feet in Q3-19.

Prices at both The Lakes and Jumeirah Park fell by 3% to AED 1,010 per square feet and AED 804 per square feet, respectively, during the July-September period of 2019.

“The supply of brand-new properties, with their wealth of amenities, has resulted in older communities bearing the brunt with prices being lowered to compete for and attract end-users,” Witty said.

At the level of the apartment sales market, Dubai Marina and the Greens were the best performing communities as both had pronounced declines of 6% to AED 1,030 per square feet and AED 849 per square feet each.

In the rental market, numerous apartment communities had no movement during the three-month ended 30 September 2019 including Business Bay, Discovery Gardens, Dubai Silicon Oasis, JVC, and Motor City where a two-bedroom apartment in each rent for AED 100,000, AED 75,000, AED 60,000, AED 73,000, and AED 90,000 per annum, respectively.

“The decrease in rental prices in smaller units, in some locations, is indicative of tenants moving to larger properties that have become more affordable. This has resulted in landlords of smaller units reducing their rates to be more attractive to prospective tenants,” Witty remarked.

JVT and Victory Heights have witnessed the biggest villa rental declines with an average decrease rate of 3% with a three-bedroom available for AED 112,500 and AED 130,000, respectively, the report added.

Off-plan transactions valued at AED 10.48 billion in Q3-19, as its volume jumped by 45%, which is an indicator of recovery, the report noted.