Today was the first day of Cityscape in Abu Dhabi.

Any of you guys went? Any comments? observations? Thoughts? Experiences? Please share them here.

I went this morning, long drive from Sharjah to Abu Dhabi.... it was pretty busy at the hall...and people had to queue up for registration for atleast half an hour. Once you go in, its like theres a billion people there.

The big developers had very few sales persons around, so you got to be the luckiest person on earth to be able to chat to one of them. None of them had prices... one of them said "You have to wait for the CEO to arrive, he has the prices with him".... yeah right... hes doin deals in his office with his big abu dhabi mates before we lil fish get the prices.

I went to a stall which had alot of people around, so I managed to get to the front just to see what the big fuss is about. Well, they were selling one beders for 1900/sqft.... and people there were literally throwin cheques at the poor sales woman... she was really embarassed and didnt know how to deal with them.... but things didnt get any better when she said " I have 2 units left, which one of you wants it".... I just thought, great move lady! Just great!

Anyway, its really stupid to see people signing cheques and dont even know what view the apartment they are buying has, or which floor its on, or where the hell it is on Al Reem Island... what developments are nearby... its slightly cheaper than market for a reason.

Market was at around 2000/sq.ft today. The better developments like Tameer's were at 2400/sq.ft.

Anyways, who was there today? Whats your views??

Did you notice the number of cuties there? My god!... it was worth the a 3 hr trip from Sharjah While those loosers were tryin to grab some deals, throwin their cheques around...... I was chattin up some cute businesswomen....so there!.... LOOSERSSSS.

Inv.

I liked the cuties part

Good one on the cuties. Every Cityscape in Dubai, I take a 3 day off to cover the stalls and of course the cuties.

Dhs 1900 psf is a price which does not make sense. Just put these prices on the "Easy to use mortgage calculator " which I have posted and see how much you are on negative cash flow. Any investment you want to analyse, the best is to put it on the mortgage calculator, it works out the figures for you.

I did an analysis on a 1BDR ( 1000 sq ft ) at 1800 dhs psf. Fed in all the numbers and the result was a negative cash flow of Dhs 76,000, if you are renting out at Dhs 96,000 per year which is a realistic rent for a 1 BDR in Abudhabi.

Developers are increasing the prices. Investors are going mad...are these classic signs of overheat

If people do not work numbers, then you have people throwing cheques as what you said.

I could be wrong. Hope things work out for them.

Regards

Roshan

"Developers are increasing the prices. Investors are going mad...are these classic signs of overheat
"

Dear Roshan
You are not confused things have all the signs of boiling, not over heating
when you see all these signes it just means the end is very near , pop,pop,pop

Roshan,

Your analysis using the mortgage calculator is not valid, correct me if am wrong. The property is offplan, under contruction... so the rental aspect of the investment does not come in until its completed.

When its completed in 2009 or 2010... you will have to consider the rent at that time... no one will kno for sure, but a one bedroom should fetch in excess of 100,000 in Abu Dhabi...way in excess. Al Reem Island is Abu Dhabi's Business Bay style development. And its an island.

At the moment, the people who are buying these properties are in it to make money... flip it in few months and make some cash.... it will be difficult for the end-buyer.... if he was to rent it out though. Capital appreciation is faster than rental appreciation... this is the main problem with these developments.

Inv.

I dont think there will be an end in the way you are predicting... this is abu dhabi, the richest of all the emirates... billions of dirhams are spent on infrastructures and to ensure these projects function well as investments.

Also its an oil backed economy....oil prices are rising.... oh and tourism is on the growth, more people want to come to this country to live and work since life in other parts of the world particularly the west is becoming more difficult.... with taxes, declining economies, cost of food etc.

Inv.

for our sake at least . oh by the way are u living in Abu Dhabi and if so
how do u see alreem island projects with all these huge buildings at outrageous prices
of 2800-2900 sq ft
are these prices sensible , and if we enter here , how high can prices go?
regards

Inv,

I went back to the mortgage calculator and went on increasing the rent from Dhs 8,000 per month to Dhs 14,900 per month ( amounts to a rent of Dhs 178,800 per year ) until I moved from negative cash flow to a positive cash flow of Dhs 473. At the Palm you can rent a 2 BDR for that kind of money. I don't think whether now or 5 years from now, Abudhabi will enjoy a rent of Dhs 178,000 for a 1 BDR. Don't forget the other developments which will come in.

As I said Abudhabi is more of an equity market and not a rental one. Abudhabi is not trade focussed like Dubai and only enjoys wht it gets out of oil.

Chances of loosing your shirt along with pants are more

Regards

Roshan

Outrageously high. The numbers do not make sense.

Roshan

No, prices have not reached 2800/sqft in Al Reem. Yesterday, the most expensive I believe were Tameer's prices at 2400/sq.ft.... I didnt see any higher prices.

I am living in Sharjah, so I am at the centre of UAE.

If you want to buy in Al Reem I can talk to my contacts in Abu Dhabi, they get the best deals going around. I am not an Agent, I am a Professional Valuer, but I do have friends who are agents.

Inv.

I called Tameer today to be exact the sq ft is i was qouted was 2770/sq ft
is what i got when i called tameer in city scape
also last week damac was selling with 5% discount the harbor hights for 2900/sq ft, I dont live in Dubai
and if u can find me somthing in tameer i wud be very thankfull
Regards