Investors still favour Dubai over Abu Dhabi

Investors from all over the world still seem to favour Dubai over Abu Dhabi when looking for new assets to add to their Middle Eastern portfolios.

A number of recent studies have shown that Dubai is still the most popular real estate hub in the UAE, the latest of which was conducted by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

The research showed the average listed property sold in Dubai in the first half of 2013 was valued at AED 1,099 (£196) per square foot, the Global Times reports. This was a 34.6 per cent improvement when compared with June 2012.

While prices in Abu Dhabi were higher - AED 1,123 per square foot - the rate of growth was measured at 22.2 per cent year-on-year, which suggests Dubai's real estate market is expanding at a much faster pace.

According to the bank's report, Dubai continues to benefit from being the corporate capital of the UAE, with wealthy investors keen to snap up buildings that can then be rented out to high-powered businesspeople. The emirate is also attracting more and more leisure visitors on an annual basis - great news for hotel, apartment and villa owners.

The study showed that landlords were able to raise their rents again in June 2013, as the average asking price went up by 6.75 per cent year-on-year.

Farouk Soussa, the chief economist in the Middle East for Citigroup, recently told the National that Dubai's population is growing at a quicker rate than Abu Dhabi's and this will inevitably have an impact on the property sector.

"Going forward we expect further increases in rent in Dubai as we forecast house prices to rise by 35 per cent this year and rents to be not far off it," he was quoted as saying.

The First Group has an extensive range of upmarket properties in some of the most exclusive areas of Dubai, including the luxurious Dubai Marina, which is arguably the most sought after address in the UAE at the moment.

Photographer ascends Dubai's Burj Khalifa

 

 A brave photographer has taken some memorable shots after climbing Dubai's imposing Burj Khalifa.

Joe McNally - who has been a regular contributor for National Geographic for more than 20 years - was invited by two maintenance workers to scale the world's tallest structure.

The building's administrator had given Mr McNally permission to record footage of his adventure and this can now be seen on video sharing website YouTube.

Although the two men who guided the photographer to the summit of the 2,722ft skyscraper are accustomed to dangling from the building on a daily basis, for Mr McNally this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"I've been a big fan always of getting my camera in different places and trying to seek the unusual vantage point," he remarked.

"The tower is obviously a commanding presence. It sprang out of the desert here. It's the tallest structure in the world."

Anybody who has visited Dubai in recent years will know just how dominant the Burj Khalifa is.

Work first got underway in 2004 and the massive spire was in place by January 2009. The tower was officially opened 12 months later.

As well as being the tallest manmade tower on earth, the Burj Khalifa holds a number of other records, including the highest number of storeys in the world (160), the highest occupied floor on the planet, the tallest observation deck and the elevator with the longest journey in the world.

The building is the centrepiece of the Downtown Dubai area, which is proving to be an increasingly popular region among property investors.

Real estate prices in this particular part of the city have risen sharply in recent years and this is a trend that is likely to continue throughout the rest of 2013.

A recent study conducted by Bayt.com showed the average rent in a two-bedroom apartment in Downtown Dubai increased by 4.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, while the asking price for studio accommodation and one-bedroom properties went up by 2.3 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively.

The First Group can help you find properties for sale in Dubai