TASE VP Ronit Harel Ben-Ze'ev: We hope to see more REITs on the TASE when the income tax code is amended.
Roy Meltzer 30 Dec 07 14:42
"The booming real estate industry and the international expansion of activity by many developers contributed significantly to the market caps of these companies and brought new large real estate companies to the TASE," says TASE Economic Department senior VP Ronit Harel Ben-Ze'ev.
The Real Estate 15 index of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) had a yield of just 2% in 2007, rising from 650 points to 660, after outperforming the TASE's leading indices in the first two years after its launch in January 2005. The Real Estate 15 index was highly liquid and a popular investment instrument.
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/DocView.asp?did=1000291957&fid=1725
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Infinity Commercial Real Estate Group Moves to New Expanded Offices in Lakewood, CA
Infinity Commercial Real Estate Group (www.infinityspecialists.com) announced today that it was moving to new expanded facilities in the Washington Mutual Bank Building located at 4909 Lakewood Boulevard in Lakewood, California.
Infinity Commercial Real Estate Group was founded in 2002 by Tony Lee and has grown dramatically. Since its inception, Infinity Commercial Real Estate has been involved in more than 200 commercial transactions totaling an estimated $350 Million in transaction value.
Infinity Commercial Real Estate Group specializes in assisting individuals with investing in properties that are income-producing, as well as working with individuals on their 1031 tax deferred exchanges. Infinity Commercial Real Estate Group arranges all details of the transactions from acquisition to debt financing to equity placement.
The commercial real estate sector continues to be more robust than the residential sector at this time offering more opportunities for growth.
“We are very excited about our move to new offices in Lakewood. Our new location will allow us to better serve our clients, many of which are located in the Long Beach area. It will also allow us an opportunity to further grow and add new staff and resources,” said Lee.
Infinity Commercial Real Estate is also affiliated with Infinity Capital Funding which provides a variety of mortgage products in the Commercial and Residential arenas. Infinity Capital’s Residential Division will provide funding for traditional 1-4 unit rental properties and offer conventional and FHA approved loans. The Commercial Division will serve the needs for retail, multi-family units, industrial and commercial loans, unsecured business credit lines and jumbo commercial loans ranging from $5 Million to $200 Million.
About Infinity Commercial Real Estate
Infinity Commercial Real Estate Group was founded in 2002 by Tony Lee and has grown dramatically. Since its inception, Infinity Commercial Real Estate has been involved in more than 200 commercial transactions totaling an estimated $350 Million in transaction value.
http://www.pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54817&Itemid=9
Infinity Commercial Real Estate Group was founded in 2002 by Tony Lee and has grown dramatically. Since its inception, Infinity Commercial Real Estate has been involved in more than 200 commercial transactions totaling an estimated $350 Million in transaction value.
Infinity Commercial Real Estate Group specializes in assisting individuals with investing in properties that are income-producing, as well as working with individuals on their 1031 tax deferred exchanges. Infinity Commercial Real Estate Group arranges all details of the transactions from acquisition to debt financing to equity placement.
The commercial real estate sector continues to be more robust than the residential sector at this time offering more opportunities for growth.
“We are very excited about our move to new offices in Lakewood. Our new location will allow us to better serve our clients, many of which are located in the Long Beach area. It will also allow us an opportunity to further grow and add new staff and resources,” said Lee.
Infinity Commercial Real Estate is also affiliated with Infinity Capital Funding which provides a variety of mortgage products in the Commercial and Residential arenas. Infinity Capital’s Residential Division will provide funding for traditional 1-4 unit rental properties and offer conventional and FHA approved loans. The Commercial Division will serve the needs for retail, multi-family units, industrial and commercial loans, unsecured business credit lines and jumbo commercial loans ranging from $5 Million to $200 Million.
About Infinity Commercial Real Estate
Infinity Commercial Real Estate Group was founded in 2002 by Tony Lee and has grown dramatically. Since its inception, Infinity Commercial Real Estate has been involved in more than 200 commercial transactions totaling an estimated $350 Million in transaction value.
http://www.pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54817&Itemid=9
Real estate holds a lot of opportunity in 2008
The real estate sector has experienced a phenomenal growth over the past few years. According to Arvind Parakh, CEO, corporate strategy & finance, Omaxe, the ‘fragmented’ nature of the industry will change once more companies go public, thereby making promoters adopt a proper corporate structure. The year 2008, he feels, holds a lot of opportunity and challenging times in store for the realty industry.
RENT OR BUY
With real estate prices at all-time high, investors are unsure whether to buy a property or stay on rent. Mr Parakh feels this decision depends on your ability to service the debt. “Ideally, for your own occupation, you may aggressively borrow a little more as it is a life-time decision to have your own property. However, if it is an investment, you should take care in choosing the amount of investment and the location, which would be able to appreciate in value or give enough rental income to service the obligation,” he says.
CHECK-IN OR PRE-CONSTRUCTION
Parakh believes that if you are looking for an apartment/ house in the bracket of 6,000-7,000 per sq ft area, then ‘ready-to-move-in’ flats will be a good idea. However, if you are opting for a house in the lower bracket, then it is desirable to go for ‘pre-construction’ as higher specification material of your choice can be used. He cautions that as the prices have gone up in the last two years and have not seen a major correction, investment in property at today’s market rates should be done with an objective of a reasonable return in a period of at least three to four years.
VERIFY BEFORE BUYING
According to Parakh, while buying a house, you should verify the title of the plot and necessary approvals/ sanction of the plans. “You should also check on the necessary approvals required by the local authorities. These approvals should be carefully inspected and the decision should not be taken on hearsay, that is, if approvals are pending or applied for. Unless the approvals are in place, you should not take the decision of buying the house,” he says, adding as an investor, it is pertinent that you should check the developer’s track record.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET_Features/The_Sunday_ET/BizNext_Next_Reality/Real_estate_holds_a_lot_of_opportunity/articleshow/2661669.cms
RENT OR BUY
With real estate prices at all-time high, investors are unsure whether to buy a property or stay on rent. Mr Parakh feels this decision depends on your ability to service the debt. “Ideally, for your own occupation, you may aggressively borrow a little more as it is a life-time decision to have your own property. However, if it is an investment, you should take care in choosing the amount of investment and the location, which would be able to appreciate in value or give enough rental income to service the obligation,” he says.
CHECK-IN OR PRE-CONSTRUCTION
Parakh believes that if you are looking for an apartment/ house in the bracket of 6,000-7,000 per sq ft area, then ‘ready-to-move-in’ flats will be a good idea. However, if you are opting for a house in the lower bracket, then it is desirable to go for ‘pre-construction’ as higher specification material of your choice can be used. He cautions that as the prices have gone up in the last two years and have not seen a major correction, investment in property at today’s market rates should be done with an objective of a reasonable return in a period of at least three to four years.
VERIFY BEFORE BUYING
According to Parakh, while buying a house, you should verify the title of the plot and necessary approvals/ sanction of the plans. “You should also check on the necessary approvals required by the local authorities. These approvals should be carefully inspected and the decision should not be taken on hearsay, that is, if approvals are pending or applied for. Unless the approvals are in place, you should not take the decision of buying the house,” he says, adding as an investor, it is pertinent that you should check the developer’s track record.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET_Features/The_Sunday_ET/BizNext_Next_Reality/Real_estate_holds_a_lot_of_opportunity/articleshow/2661669.cms
Spain's real estate sector suffered a hard landing in '07
MADRID: With sales slumping, prices faltering and property developers despondent, Spain's housing market evidently failed to get the soft landing in 2007 that the government and experts had predicted at the start of year.
Some experts are alarmist, some cautiously optimistic, but all agree that the sector is in crisis.
The issue is all the more important as the housing market makes up 7.5 percent of gross domestic product, according to figures from the BBVA bank. The construction industry as a whole employs 13 percent of workers.
And all this as Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is seeking a second four-year mandate in March general elections.
"There is a crisis in Spain's housing market," said Jesus Garcia de Ponga, the head of Metrovacesa, one of Spain's leading real estate companies.
Property developers, some of whom are also suffering a lack of capital due to the international subprime lending crisis, have sounded the alarm.
The G14 group, which represents the country's largest developers, says 400,000 jobs will be lost within two years due to the construction slowdown.
Studies by the BBVA bank are more reassuring. "There is too much talk of disaster on this subject," said BBVA chief economist Jose Luis Escriva. BBVA continues to talk of a "soft landing" but still predicts 250,000 less workers in the construction industry next year.
But one thing is certain: sales are way down. In early December, the office that registers property transactions noted a 12 percent drop between January and October.
The decline accelerated throughout the year -- 8.9 per cent in the first quarter, 11.5 in the second and 16 in the third.
And when sales slump, prices follow. A recent study by Deutsche Bank forecast that the average rise in house prices in 2007 would be identical to inflation, which was around 4.0 per cent in the 12 months to November.
This figure is far below that of recent years: 9.1 per cent in 2006, 12.6 per cent in 2005, and well over 150 per cent for the period 1996-2006.
For 2008, Deutsche Bank predicts a drop in prices of 2.0 to 8.0 per cent. Many blame the European Central Bank and its policies of monetary tightening, which have hurt Spanish borrowers as most of them have variable rates.
"The intensification of the process (of rate hikes) has progressively weakened the demand for housing, to which the sector, as usual, responded late," said the BBVA study.
With more choice for buyers, agents were forced to push harder to get a sale.
"The situation is terrible" for the whole property sector, said Javier Sierra of the Re/Max agency. "The smallest agencies are suffering," and "the secondary housing market has practically stopped."
Looking to the future, he noted "two criteria that are traditionally bad for the real estate -- interest rates and unemployment."
The first have sharply increased, but the return of inflation in the eurozone will make the ECB hesitant to reverse the trend.
As for unemployment, it is starting to head upwards, passing the 8.0 per cent mark in Spain in the third quarter.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/International__Business/Spains_real_estate_sector_suffered_a_hard_landing_in_07/articleshow/2661830.cms
Some experts are alarmist, some cautiously optimistic, but all agree that the sector is in crisis.
The issue is all the more important as the housing market makes up 7.5 percent of gross domestic product, according to figures from the BBVA bank. The construction industry as a whole employs 13 percent of workers.
And all this as Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is seeking a second four-year mandate in March general elections.
"There is a crisis in Spain's housing market," said Jesus Garcia de Ponga, the head of Metrovacesa, one of Spain's leading real estate companies.
Property developers, some of whom are also suffering a lack of capital due to the international subprime lending crisis, have sounded the alarm.
The G14 group, which represents the country's largest developers, says 400,000 jobs will be lost within two years due to the construction slowdown.
Studies by the BBVA bank are more reassuring. "There is too much talk of disaster on this subject," said BBVA chief economist Jose Luis Escriva. BBVA continues to talk of a "soft landing" but still predicts 250,000 less workers in the construction industry next year.
But one thing is certain: sales are way down. In early December, the office that registers property transactions noted a 12 percent drop between January and October.
The decline accelerated throughout the year -- 8.9 per cent in the first quarter, 11.5 in the second and 16 in the third.
And when sales slump, prices follow. A recent study by Deutsche Bank forecast that the average rise in house prices in 2007 would be identical to inflation, which was around 4.0 per cent in the 12 months to November.
This figure is far below that of recent years: 9.1 per cent in 2006, 12.6 per cent in 2005, and well over 150 per cent for the period 1996-2006.
For 2008, Deutsche Bank predicts a drop in prices of 2.0 to 8.0 per cent. Many blame the European Central Bank and its policies of monetary tightening, which have hurt Spanish borrowers as most of them have variable rates.
"The intensification of the process (of rate hikes) has progressively weakened the demand for housing, to which the sector, as usual, responded late," said the BBVA study.
With more choice for buyers, agents were forced to push harder to get a sale.
"The situation is terrible" for the whole property sector, said Javier Sierra of the Re/Max agency. "The smallest agencies are suffering," and "the secondary housing market has practically stopped."
Looking to the future, he noted "two criteria that are traditionally bad for the real estate -- interest rates and unemployment."
The first have sharply increased, but the return of inflation in the eurozone will make the ECB hesitant to reverse the trend.
As for unemployment, it is starting to head upwards, passing the 8.0 per cent mark in Spain in the third quarter.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/International__Business/Spains_real_estate_sector_suffered_a_hard_landing_in_07/articleshow/2661830.cms
REAL ESTATE MAILBAG
Q:My elderly parents (dad is 90, mom is 86) had been living in Florida for the past 20 years, but due to bad health, I moved them to California. Do they need to change their wills or do the provisions still apply "as is?" I have power of attorney but would like to leave things as they are, if possible.
A: Wills should be updated periodically, even if you live in the same state. But since your parents have moved to California - where the laws may be quite different - I believe it is best that your parents contact a local attorney and have them sign new wills.
In my opinion, everyone over the age of majority should have at least four legal documents: a last will and testament, a durable power of attorney, a power of attorney for health, and a living will (also known as an advanced health care directive). Some people also have a separate power of attorney for financial matters.
Different states have different procedural rules to make sure that a will is valid. For example, in some states, three witnesses are required; in others, only two witnesses need to be present at the will signing. In some states, the witnesses and the personal representative must be residents of state in which the will is signed; in other states, there are no such requirements.
Accordingly, I strongly suggest that you arrange for your parents to meet with a California attorney who can update their legal documents consistent with your local laws.
I also want to point out that while I appreciate your concerns for your parents, it is ultimately their decision - in their sole discretion - as to what they will include in their will.
Q: There is no signed deed on the house that my mother has called home for more than 47 years. We hired a lawyer and he hired a private detective to try to learn the facts. My parents bought the house back in the 1960s. We have had absolute no luck resolving this matter. We have all of the papers when they bought the house, as well as the documents proving that she paid off her mortgage.
However, we cannot find the deed. How can a signed deed fall through the cracks? My mother is almost 90 years old.
A: Your situation is unusual, but not uncommon. Until the advent of computers, many legal documents were often misfiled or lost. Now, many recorders of deeds have computerized all of the legal documents, making retrieval very simple - even from your home personal computer.
Many people believe that when they sell their house, they have to produce the original deed. That is untrue. So long as the land records in the jurisdiction where the house is located show that your mother owns the property, that is all you need.
When a person buys a house, the title to that property is searched. Since most buyers do not pay all cash but obtain mortgage loans, the lender will insist on getting title insurance coverage. And the settlement attorney (or escrow company) that conducts the settlement will have to assure the lender that title is good and that there are no objections to title.
And even if you pay all cash, you still want to be assured that you are getting good title, and will want to purchase title insurance. The title company will not issue such a policy unless they are completely satisfied that good and clear title is in the seller's name.
But if you really want to track down a copy of the original deed, the first thing you should do is obtain a comprehensive title report, and go back as far as possible. You should hire a professional title examiner; don't do this yourself.
However, if the title report raises problems, there are other avenues to explore.
You said that the house is free and clear and that you have documents showing that your mother paid off her mortgage. Try to get a copy of that old mortgage (called a Deed of Trust in some states). I cannot believe that any legitimate lender would have made a loan to your parents unless they were absolutely satisfied that your parents owned the house.
If all else fails, your mother may have to go to court. She would file what is known as an action to quiet title. Your attorney will be able to give you guidance on this process.
And if for any reason someone else is claiming title to the property, she can also add a count to the lawsuit claiming adverse possession. In most states, if a person "openly, notoriously and hostilely" uses someone else's property for a period of time prescribed by state law, a judge will issue an order directing that title is now vested in the plaintiff. For example, in the state of Maryland, the adverse possession time is 20 years, while in the District of Columbia it is only 15 years.
But the bottom line is, you do not need a copy of the original deed in order for your mother to sell her house.
Q: I bought a condo at a foreclosure auction and there were many contract pages. On one of these pages, it says that I had received the condo association legal documents. In fact, I never did. After the auction and when I finally read the contract, I asked the title company to give me those legal documents.
They claim they do not have them, but that I will get them at closing. My intention is to rent out the unit. But right now, the whole building is vacant. I am not even sure that there is a condo association. Can I legally back out of the deal?
A: Your first mistake was to sign documents without reading them. But depending on your state law, and if it really is a condominium, you may be entitled to review the condo documents (it is called a resale package) and cancel the contract within a certain period of time. However, the party foreclosing on the property may not be legally obligated to give you the resale package.
The title company should be able to tell you if it is really a condominium. It either is or it is not. And the fact that no sales have taken place yet (or however the units became vacant) does not mean that it is still not a condo. A condominium is created when the documents are recorded among the land records, and that is why the title company should know its status.
If it is a condominium, you are entitled to receive a complete copy of the legal documents (which generally consist of the declaration and the bylaws. There may be restrictions on rentals which will impact on you.
Finally, I suggest that you immediately retain an attorney who understands and practices real estate law. He or she may be able to find a loophole whereby you maybe able to get your money back. Otherwise, I am afraid that you either have to go to settlement or forfeit your deposit.
Q: I just purchased a house in New Jersey. After moving in, I discovered an additional room of the basement that contains an abandoned well. The well was not disclosed and was missed by my home inspector. Can I get the seller to pay to remove it? The quote I got was for $5,000.
A: I cannot believe that both you and your home inspector just did not discover that additional room in the basement of your new home. I suspect that if you decide to file suit, that your seller will raise as a defense "contributory negligence."
I do not know what kind of disclosures are required in New Jersey. You would have to review any disclosure statement which your seller gave you to determine if in fact he was legally obligated to disclose the abandoned well, or if he lied about its existence.
Do you really need to take out the well? Can it just be filled in (or covered) so that you can avoid having to pay a lot of money for its removal?
Have you asked your inspector about this? I do know that New Jersey has good law regarding the negligence of home inspectors. Usually, these inspectors have exculpatory clauses in their contracts. This means that should the inspector be found negligent, the homeowner's only remedy is to get back the moneys that were paid to the inspector.
However, I recently read a very interesting court case from New Jersey where the court held that such clauses will be held unconscionable in home inspection contracts if the cap on liability (i.e. what you paid the inspector) is not sufficient to provide a realistic incentive to act diligently. In your case, if you only paid the inspector $300, a court might consider this too low and may hold the inspector liable for negligence.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/30/REB9TNHMN.DTL
A: Wills should be updated periodically, even if you live in the same state. But since your parents have moved to California - where the laws may be quite different - I believe it is best that your parents contact a local attorney and have them sign new wills.
In my opinion, everyone over the age of majority should have at least four legal documents: a last will and testament, a durable power of attorney, a power of attorney for health, and a living will (also known as an advanced health care directive). Some people also have a separate power of attorney for financial matters.
Different states have different procedural rules to make sure that a will is valid. For example, in some states, three witnesses are required; in others, only two witnesses need to be present at the will signing. In some states, the witnesses and the personal representative must be residents of state in which the will is signed; in other states, there are no such requirements.
Accordingly, I strongly suggest that you arrange for your parents to meet with a California attorney who can update their legal documents consistent with your local laws.
I also want to point out that while I appreciate your concerns for your parents, it is ultimately their decision - in their sole discretion - as to what they will include in their will.
Q: There is no signed deed on the house that my mother has called home for more than 47 years. We hired a lawyer and he hired a private detective to try to learn the facts. My parents bought the house back in the 1960s. We have had absolute no luck resolving this matter. We have all of the papers when they bought the house, as well as the documents proving that she paid off her mortgage.
However, we cannot find the deed. How can a signed deed fall through the cracks? My mother is almost 90 years old.
A: Your situation is unusual, but not uncommon. Until the advent of computers, many legal documents were often misfiled or lost. Now, many recorders of deeds have computerized all of the legal documents, making retrieval very simple - even from your home personal computer.
Many people believe that when they sell their house, they have to produce the original deed. That is untrue. So long as the land records in the jurisdiction where the house is located show that your mother owns the property, that is all you need.
When a person buys a house, the title to that property is searched. Since most buyers do not pay all cash but obtain mortgage loans, the lender will insist on getting title insurance coverage. And the settlement attorney (or escrow company) that conducts the settlement will have to assure the lender that title is good and that there are no objections to title.
And even if you pay all cash, you still want to be assured that you are getting good title, and will want to purchase title insurance. The title company will not issue such a policy unless they are completely satisfied that good and clear title is in the seller's name.
But if you really want to track down a copy of the original deed, the first thing you should do is obtain a comprehensive title report, and go back as far as possible. You should hire a professional title examiner; don't do this yourself.
However, if the title report raises problems, there are other avenues to explore.
You said that the house is free and clear and that you have documents showing that your mother paid off her mortgage. Try to get a copy of that old mortgage (called a Deed of Trust in some states). I cannot believe that any legitimate lender would have made a loan to your parents unless they were absolutely satisfied that your parents owned the house.
If all else fails, your mother may have to go to court. She would file what is known as an action to quiet title. Your attorney will be able to give you guidance on this process.
And if for any reason someone else is claiming title to the property, she can also add a count to the lawsuit claiming adverse possession. In most states, if a person "openly, notoriously and hostilely" uses someone else's property for a period of time prescribed by state law, a judge will issue an order directing that title is now vested in the plaintiff. For example, in the state of Maryland, the adverse possession time is 20 years, while in the District of Columbia it is only 15 years.
But the bottom line is, you do not need a copy of the original deed in order for your mother to sell her house.
Q: I bought a condo at a foreclosure auction and there were many contract pages. On one of these pages, it says that I had received the condo association legal documents. In fact, I never did. After the auction and when I finally read the contract, I asked the title company to give me those legal documents.
They claim they do not have them, but that I will get them at closing. My intention is to rent out the unit. But right now, the whole building is vacant. I am not even sure that there is a condo association. Can I legally back out of the deal?
A: Your first mistake was to sign documents without reading them. But depending on your state law, and if it really is a condominium, you may be entitled to review the condo documents (it is called a resale package) and cancel the contract within a certain period of time. However, the party foreclosing on the property may not be legally obligated to give you the resale package.
The title company should be able to tell you if it is really a condominium. It either is or it is not. And the fact that no sales have taken place yet (or however the units became vacant) does not mean that it is still not a condo. A condominium is created when the documents are recorded among the land records, and that is why the title company should know its status.
If it is a condominium, you are entitled to receive a complete copy of the legal documents (which generally consist of the declaration and the bylaws. There may be restrictions on rentals which will impact on you.
Finally, I suggest that you immediately retain an attorney who understands and practices real estate law. He or she may be able to find a loophole whereby you maybe able to get your money back. Otherwise, I am afraid that you either have to go to settlement or forfeit your deposit.
Q: I just purchased a house in New Jersey. After moving in, I discovered an additional room of the basement that contains an abandoned well. The well was not disclosed and was missed by my home inspector. Can I get the seller to pay to remove it? The quote I got was for $5,000.
A: I cannot believe that both you and your home inspector just did not discover that additional room in the basement of your new home. I suspect that if you decide to file suit, that your seller will raise as a defense "contributory negligence."
I do not know what kind of disclosures are required in New Jersey. You would have to review any disclosure statement which your seller gave you to determine if in fact he was legally obligated to disclose the abandoned well, or if he lied about its existence.
Do you really need to take out the well? Can it just be filled in (or covered) so that you can avoid having to pay a lot of money for its removal?
Have you asked your inspector about this? I do know that New Jersey has good law regarding the negligence of home inspectors. Usually, these inspectors have exculpatory clauses in their contracts. This means that should the inspector be found negligent, the homeowner's only remedy is to get back the moneys that were paid to the inspector.
However, I recently read a very interesting court case from New Jersey where the court held that such clauses will be held unconscionable in home inspection contracts if the cap on liability (i.e. what you paid the inspector) is not sufficient to provide a realistic incentive to act diligently. In your case, if you only paid the inspector $300, a court might consider this too low and may hold the inspector liable for negligence.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/30/REB9TNHMN.DTL
Real-estate anxiety: What's next in '08?
Three Decembers ago, Vulcan Real Estate erected a tent in Seattle's long-unfashionable South Lake Union neighborhood and invited the public to see plans for 2200, a luxury condominium project to be built there. Within days, 2200 was nearly sold out.
Today the neighborhood is awash in new housing and the amenities to support it. So Paul Kelly, the owner of a 17th-floor unit in 2200, should be sitting on top of the world. But it didn't quite work out that way.
What looked like a surefire winner — homeownership in Seattle — has taken on a tinge of uncertainty. Trying since September, Kelly has been unable to sell his one-bedroom unit with its unobstructed view. Hardly anyone has come to see it, he says.
As thousands of other sellers have also found out, the Seattle area's formerly stellar real-estate market has finally, slowly joined in the national downturn. That makes for anxious times, not just for sellers like Kelly, but also for buyers who wonder whether buying soon is buying too soon. Will prices drop?
And then there's the issue of getting a mortgage. Since the widely publicized August meltdown in that industry, buyers (and those hoping to refinance) have had fewer choices.
"Whether you're shopping for a mortgage or for a home, there probably has not been as challenged a year as this one in years," says Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH, a mortgage-information provider. "This year, home is where the anxiety is."
Now the question is: Will that spill into next year, or is the worst over?
Economists caution that predicting housing-market activity is always uncertain. But their general take on the situation is that Puget Sound-area home sales will continue their decline and appreciation will stall. However, home prices are not expected to drop significantly.
Until recently, Seattle-area homeowners could bask in the knowledge that their houses would appreciate handsomely. Median home prices rose 16 percent in 2005 and 21 percent in 2006, a Seattle Times analysis found.
When this year's final numbers are tallied, the median annual increase will probably be more like 2 or 3 percent, Seattle real-estate economist Matthew Gardner says. That puts Seattle ahead of many cities; still, it's the lowest appreciation rate in roughly a decade.
Looking ahead, the concern on economists' minds now is recession. Fifty-two economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal gauged the chances of the U.S. entering a recession at 38 percent — the highest response in more than three years.
Housing takes a hit in recessions. But even without formal news of a downturn, home prices nationally are expected to decline 3.5 percent next year, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.
Locally, economist Dick Conway acknowledges, "There's a lot more uncertainty for next year in what's going to happen to the economy. We could go into a recession, although no one is predicting it."
And recessions are hard to predict, says Conway, co-author of The Puget Sound Economic Forecaster newsletter. So hard, in fact, that the last national downturn, in the early part of this decade, was over before anyone realized it existed.
Further turmoil in the financial markets could cause one now, Conway says. "There's so much uncertainty among lenders that it's hard to tell where it will all end up."
If there is a recession, Conway predicts the Seattle area will weather it better than the nation. The main reasons, he says: local job and population growth, which are running twice the national average, plus high wages. Local per-capita income, expected to be $46,356 this year, is 19.7 percent above the national average.
All that's relevant because the health of the housing market is directly related to the health of the local economy.
That said, real estate is cyclical, and Conway anticipates average Puget Sound-region home prices will decline less than 1 percent next year, and sales will be down about 5 percent, before rebounding in 2008.
"Given that we had a pretty good run-up in prices, some downward adjustment shouldn't be surprising," he says.
It could also be good news for buyers. Recent double-digit home appreciation has outpaced wage growth and seriously undermined affordability. Negligible price increases, rather than being bad news, could actually be good by allowing wages time to catch up.
That, however, is probably not what owners want to hear. But Sam Pace, an agent with Bellevue's Executive Real Estate, says it's realistic.
"We've had double-digit appreciation for years in a row, and if you think you can't handle a little bit of a dip, you have a pretty special view of what your return should be," Pace says.
Conversely, buyers have their own quandary: whether to buy or wait for prices to fall. Many are "either trying to figure out what's going on or trying to time the very bottom of the market."
Pace considers attempts at timing futile. "If somebody tries to pick the very bottom of the market, they won't know if they got there until prices start climbing again, by which time they've missed the opportunity."
His advice: Pay attention to local rather than national real-estate news because "the important real-estate trends are local. If they read some national number, and don't look at what's happening with Washington's real-estate market, they wouldn't know that the accurate answer to 'How's the local real-estate market?' is 'Top 5 in the nation.' "
So the word for next year is patience. That's the approach Paul Kelly, the condominium owner, is taking.
Although he'd like to sell it now (and has reduced his price from $624,000 to $599,000 for buyers who purchase directly from him), he says that realistically it may be spring before he lists it again with a real-estate company.
"I think things should hopefully settle down by then; that's my plan anyway," Kelly says. "I know my buyer is out there. They just have to come see it."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2004099309_reanxiety30.html
Today the neighborhood is awash in new housing and the amenities to support it. So Paul Kelly, the owner of a 17th-floor unit in 2200, should be sitting on top of the world. But it didn't quite work out that way.
What looked like a surefire winner — homeownership in Seattle — has taken on a tinge of uncertainty. Trying since September, Kelly has been unable to sell his one-bedroom unit with its unobstructed view. Hardly anyone has come to see it, he says.
As thousands of other sellers have also found out, the Seattle area's formerly stellar real-estate market has finally, slowly joined in the national downturn. That makes for anxious times, not just for sellers like Kelly, but also for buyers who wonder whether buying soon is buying too soon. Will prices drop?
And then there's the issue of getting a mortgage. Since the widely publicized August meltdown in that industry, buyers (and those hoping to refinance) have had fewer choices.
"Whether you're shopping for a mortgage or for a home, there probably has not been as challenged a year as this one in years," says Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH, a mortgage-information provider. "This year, home is where the anxiety is."
Now the question is: Will that spill into next year, or is the worst over?
Economists caution that predicting housing-market activity is always uncertain. But their general take on the situation is that Puget Sound-area home sales will continue their decline and appreciation will stall. However, home prices are not expected to drop significantly.
Until recently, Seattle-area homeowners could bask in the knowledge that their houses would appreciate handsomely. Median home prices rose 16 percent in 2005 and 21 percent in 2006, a Seattle Times analysis found.
When this year's final numbers are tallied, the median annual increase will probably be more like 2 or 3 percent, Seattle real-estate economist Matthew Gardner says. That puts Seattle ahead of many cities; still, it's the lowest appreciation rate in roughly a decade.
Looking ahead, the concern on economists' minds now is recession. Fifty-two economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal gauged the chances of the U.S. entering a recession at 38 percent — the highest response in more than three years.
Housing takes a hit in recessions. But even without formal news of a downturn, home prices nationally are expected to decline 3.5 percent next year, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.
Locally, economist Dick Conway acknowledges, "There's a lot more uncertainty for next year in what's going to happen to the economy. We could go into a recession, although no one is predicting it."
And recessions are hard to predict, says Conway, co-author of The Puget Sound Economic Forecaster newsletter. So hard, in fact, that the last national downturn, in the early part of this decade, was over before anyone realized it existed.
Further turmoil in the financial markets could cause one now, Conway says. "There's so much uncertainty among lenders that it's hard to tell where it will all end up."
If there is a recession, Conway predicts the Seattle area will weather it better than the nation. The main reasons, he says: local job and population growth, which are running twice the national average, plus high wages. Local per-capita income, expected to be $46,356 this year, is 19.7 percent above the national average.
All that's relevant because the health of the housing market is directly related to the health of the local economy.
That said, real estate is cyclical, and Conway anticipates average Puget Sound-region home prices will decline less than 1 percent next year, and sales will be down about 5 percent, before rebounding in 2008.
"Given that we had a pretty good run-up in prices, some downward adjustment shouldn't be surprising," he says.
It could also be good news for buyers. Recent double-digit home appreciation has outpaced wage growth and seriously undermined affordability. Negligible price increases, rather than being bad news, could actually be good by allowing wages time to catch up.
That, however, is probably not what owners want to hear. But Sam Pace, an agent with Bellevue's Executive Real Estate, says it's realistic.
"We've had double-digit appreciation for years in a row, and if you think you can't handle a little bit of a dip, you have a pretty special view of what your return should be," Pace says.
Conversely, buyers have their own quandary: whether to buy or wait for prices to fall. Many are "either trying to figure out what's going on or trying to time the very bottom of the market."
Pace considers attempts at timing futile. "If somebody tries to pick the very bottom of the market, they won't know if they got there until prices start climbing again, by which time they've missed the opportunity."
His advice: Pay attention to local rather than national real-estate news because "the important real-estate trends are local. If they read some national number, and don't look at what's happening with Washington's real-estate market, they wouldn't know that the accurate answer to 'How's the local real-estate market?' is 'Top 5 in the nation.' "
So the word for next year is patience. That's the approach Paul Kelly, the condominium owner, is taking.
Although he'd like to sell it now (and has reduced his price from $624,000 to $599,000 for buyers who purchase directly from him), he says that realistically it may be spring before he lists it again with a real-estate company.
"I think things should hopefully settle down by then; that's my plan anyway," Kelly says. "I know my buyer is out there. They just have to come see it."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2004099309_reanxiety30.html
For the Bay Area real estate industry, 2007 went from boom to tizzy
As 2007 comes to a close, most people in the Bay Area real estate industry are happy to bid it farewell. And don't let the door hit you on the way out.
It became clear this year that the real estate boom of the first part of the decade had officially gone bust as lenders tightened standards, sending sales volume skidding and squelching price appreciation. The number of homes sold fell 23 percent through November in the Bay Area's nine counties compared with the same period in 2006, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Although prices have yet to post the same kind of dramatic declines, appreciation has ground to a halt in most parts of the region. Last month, the median price for a home or condo in the Bay Area was $629,000, an increase of just 1.5 percent from November 2006.
"It was the beginning of the end of the great real estate boom of the (two thousand) zeros," said Christopher Thornberg, a founding partner of the consulting firm Beacon Economics. "What you're looking at is a meltdown in the housing market that is completely unprecedented, but completely understandable when you look at the abuses in the market in the last few years."
Still, real estate executives were quick to point out that the Bay Area is faring better than other parts of the country. And, even within the Bay Area, the market is uneven with some areas suffering considerably and others holding steady.
"When you look at the rest of the state and even the rest of the country, the Bay Area has held up quite well," said Larry Klapow, president of Coldwell Banker's San Francisco Bay Area region. "The market has shown incredible resiliency." But Klapow and others said that the median numbers don't necessarily tell the whole story. The region's housing market is uneven, showing strength in core markets such as San Francisco, Marin County and Silicon Valley and weakness in outlying parts of Contra Costa and Solano counties, where new construction flourished during the boom.
"There are still a lot of affluent people in the Bay Area who know where they want to live and are willing to pay over asking to live there," said Scott Kucirek, general manger of Prudential California Realty, which has 39 offices in the Bay Area's nine counties. "At the same time, look at how hard Solano County got punished."
Here, we'll take a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly of 2007.
The good
Real estate agents point to San Francisco, Silicon Valley and certain parts of the East Bay, with short commute times and good public schools, as sweet spots in the market. A scarcity of single-family homes in San Francisco and the strength of Google and other technology companies are propping up the markets in those locations, agents said.
"The economy is still strong, and in San Francisco and Silicon Valley the vast majority of housing has done well," said Ken Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at UC Berkeley.
The median price of an existing single-family home jumped 9.5 percent to $799,000 last month in Santa Clara County and rose 6.9 percent to $855,500 in San Francisco, according to DataQuick.
And while Contra Costa, Alameda and Solano counties all saw a decline in median home prices last month, there are pockets within the East Bay that are thriving, according to agents at Prudential and Coldwell Banker.
"Real estate is all about supply and demand," said Coldwell Banker's Klapow. "In Orinda and Moraga, we can't get enough to sell. We're getting multiple offers."
High-tech job growth is fueling the high end of the housing market across a broad swath of the Bay Area, experts said. "The tech sector is very strong again, and office space has filled up in Emeryville, Berkeley and San Francisco," said Brad Inman, an industry pundit who founded the real estate news service that bears his name. "Where there's a shortage of supply, we continue to see demand."
The Santa Clara market in particular, experts say, is thriving. Greg Paquin, who runs a consulting company that advises home builders, said his projects in Silicon Valley sold rapidly as Google employees snapped up homes in Mountain View and Sunnyvale.
"We had one project where literally 50 to 70 percent of the buyers were Google employees," Paquin said. "They were buying two to four homes a week. It's slowed a little bit and we're now just above one a week, but that's way above anything else we're seeing any where else in the Bay Area and in all of California for that matter."
The bad
But move away from the region's urban cores, agents say, and the picture is dramatically different.
The first half of the year was relatively uneventful, but just as it seemed the market was on solid ground, the subprime loan crisis began to unfold.
"When you think back to the middle of 2007, in April, May and June, it seemed as though the housing market had stabilized," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "Then it was totally upended when the subprime shock hit in July, August and into September."
Areas, particularly in the outer reaches of the East Bay in cities such as Pleasanton and Antioch, have suffered as lenders tightened standards and pushed would-be buyers out of the market.
Business is down significantly at Prudential's Pleasanton office, said Frank Cannella, who manages the branch there and characterized 2007 as the "shakeout year." "I don't think anyone believed that it would be as dramatic as it turned out to be," he said. "The subprime mess has really surprised a lot of people."
The median home price skidded 2.8 percent to $565,000 in November in Alameda County last month, according to DataQuick. Solano County suffered more than any other in the Bay Area last month as the median price tumbled nearly 15 percent to $375,550 for a home or condo.
"It's the far-flung areas with the toughest commutes and the lowest-cost housing and the most construction that are the markets that are being hardest hit," said Inman. Those areas also have seen the greatest number of foreclosures. As sellers go to price their homes, foreclosure activity is dragging down prices even for buyers who aren't in financial distress, said Prudential's Kucirek.
"We're resetting the values right, wrong or indifferent," he said.
The ugly
Yet experts say that nowhere has the shift from boom to bust been more dramatic than in the new-home market.
Developers who were dangling upgrades like free hardwood floors and fancier appliances changed their tune and instead began slashing prices by as much as $150,000 in parts of the Bay Area in 2007.
Markets such as Brentwood, Oakley, Antioch and Pittsburg are particularly suffering, according to the Gregory Group's Paquin. "There is an abundance of product available and prices were unsustainable and continue to be," Paquin said. "The credit situation has made it more of a challenge."
Economists say it will take awhile to work through the supply of new homes.
"Builders got carried away and put up way too many homes - they were caught up in frenzy and hype of the boom market," said Economy.com's Zandi. "Many of the markets in the East Bay are just overwhelmed with new homes, and that's a very significant weight on the new-home market."
While new-home developers pointed to statistics about the state's perpetual shortage of housing as they built, the homes that went up don't necessarily meet the region's needs, said Beacon's Thornberg.
"Don't confuse apples and oranges," he said. "We heard lots about the housing shortage during the boom and that had little to do with high-cost new houses and everything to do with low-rent apartments for immigrants."
But across the board - good bad or ugly - as real estate agents prepare for next year, they say they are happy to be done with 2007.
"We lived - we are all here," said Coldwell Banker's Klapow. "It was a year of major change. I would say first half of the year felt normal and then of course the credit crunch kind of threw everything into a tizzy.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/30/RE96U4RAF.DTL
It became clear this year that the real estate boom of the first part of the decade had officially gone bust as lenders tightened standards, sending sales volume skidding and squelching price appreciation. The number of homes sold fell 23 percent through November in the Bay Area's nine counties compared with the same period in 2006, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Although prices have yet to post the same kind of dramatic declines, appreciation has ground to a halt in most parts of the region. Last month, the median price for a home or condo in the Bay Area was $629,000, an increase of just 1.5 percent from November 2006.
"It was the beginning of the end of the great real estate boom of the (two thousand) zeros," said Christopher Thornberg, a founding partner of the consulting firm Beacon Economics. "What you're looking at is a meltdown in the housing market that is completely unprecedented, but completely understandable when you look at the abuses in the market in the last few years."
Still, real estate executives were quick to point out that the Bay Area is faring better than other parts of the country. And, even within the Bay Area, the market is uneven with some areas suffering considerably and others holding steady.
"When you look at the rest of the state and even the rest of the country, the Bay Area has held up quite well," said Larry Klapow, president of Coldwell Banker's San Francisco Bay Area region. "The market has shown incredible resiliency." But Klapow and others said that the median numbers don't necessarily tell the whole story. The region's housing market is uneven, showing strength in core markets such as San Francisco, Marin County and Silicon Valley and weakness in outlying parts of Contra Costa and Solano counties, where new construction flourished during the boom.
"There are still a lot of affluent people in the Bay Area who know where they want to live and are willing to pay over asking to live there," said Scott Kucirek, general manger of Prudential California Realty, which has 39 offices in the Bay Area's nine counties. "At the same time, look at how hard Solano County got punished."
Here, we'll take a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly of 2007.
The good
Real estate agents point to San Francisco, Silicon Valley and certain parts of the East Bay, with short commute times and good public schools, as sweet spots in the market. A scarcity of single-family homes in San Francisco and the strength of Google and other technology companies are propping up the markets in those locations, agents said.
"The economy is still strong, and in San Francisco and Silicon Valley the vast majority of housing has done well," said Ken Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at UC Berkeley.
The median price of an existing single-family home jumped 9.5 percent to $799,000 last month in Santa Clara County and rose 6.9 percent to $855,500 in San Francisco, according to DataQuick.
And while Contra Costa, Alameda and Solano counties all saw a decline in median home prices last month, there are pockets within the East Bay that are thriving, according to agents at Prudential and Coldwell Banker.
"Real estate is all about supply and demand," said Coldwell Banker's Klapow. "In Orinda and Moraga, we can't get enough to sell. We're getting multiple offers."
High-tech job growth is fueling the high end of the housing market across a broad swath of the Bay Area, experts said. "The tech sector is very strong again, and office space has filled up in Emeryville, Berkeley and San Francisco," said Brad Inman, an industry pundit who founded the real estate news service that bears his name. "Where there's a shortage of supply, we continue to see demand."
The Santa Clara market in particular, experts say, is thriving. Greg Paquin, who runs a consulting company that advises home builders, said his projects in Silicon Valley sold rapidly as Google employees snapped up homes in Mountain View and Sunnyvale.
"We had one project where literally 50 to 70 percent of the buyers were Google employees," Paquin said. "They were buying two to four homes a week. It's slowed a little bit and we're now just above one a week, but that's way above anything else we're seeing any where else in the Bay Area and in all of California for that matter."
The bad
But move away from the region's urban cores, agents say, and the picture is dramatically different.
The first half of the year was relatively uneventful, but just as it seemed the market was on solid ground, the subprime loan crisis began to unfold.
"When you think back to the middle of 2007, in April, May and June, it seemed as though the housing market had stabilized," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "Then it was totally upended when the subprime shock hit in July, August and into September."
Areas, particularly in the outer reaches of the East Bay in cities such as Pleasanton and Antioch, have suffered as lenders tightened standards and pushed would-be buyers out of the market.
Business is down significantly at Prudential's Pleasanton office, said Frank Cannella, who manages the branch there and characterized 2007 as the "shakeout year." "I don't think anyone believed that it would be as dramatic as it turned out to be," he said. "The subprime mess has really surprised a lot of people."
The median home price skidded 2.8 percent to $565,000 in November in Alameda County last month, according to DataQuick. Solano County suffered more than any other in the Bay Area last month as the median price tumbled nearly 15 percent to $375,550 for a home or condo.
"It's the far-flung areas with the toughest commutes and the lowest-cost housing and the most construction that are the markets that are being hardest hit," said Inman. Those areas also have seen the greatest number of foreclosures. As sellers go to price their homes, foreclosure activity is dragging down prices even for buyers who aren't in financial distress, said Prudential's Kucirek.
"We're resetting the values right, wrong or indifferent," he said.
The ugly
Yet experts say that nowhere has the shift from boom to bust been more dramatic than in the new-home market.
Developers who were dangling upgrades like free hardwood floors and fancier appliances changed their tune and instead began slashing prices by as much as $150,000 in parts of the Bay Area in 2007.
Markets such as Brentwood, Oakley, Antioch and Pittsburg are particularly suffering, according to the Gregory Group's Paquin. "There is an abundance of product available and prices were unsustainable and continue to be," Paquin said. "The credit situation has made it more of a challenge."
Economists say it will take awhile to work through the supply of new homes.
"Builders got carried away and put up way too many homes - they were caught up in frenzy and hype of the boom market," said Economy.com's Zandi. "Many of the markets in the East Bay are just overwhelmed with new homes, and that's a very significant weight on the new-home market."
While new-home developers pointed to statistics about the state's perpetual shortage of housing as they built, the homes that went up don't necessarily meet the region's needs, said Beacon's Thornberg.
"Don't confuse apples and oranges," he said. "We heard lots about the housing shortage during the boom and that had little to do with high-cost new houses and everything to do with low-rent apartments for immigrants."
But across the board - good bad or ugly - as real estate agents prepare for next year, they say they are happy to be done with 2007.
"We lived - we are all here," said Coldwell Banker's Klapow. "It was a year of major change. I would say first half of the year felt normal and then of course the credit crunch kind of threw everything into a tizzy.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/30/RE96U4RAF.DTL
Real Etate Bank appoints NBAD to offer financing options for premium residential project
Real Estate Bank, the government-owned entity specialised in facilitating real estate credit for establishments and government organisations in the UAE, has signed a partnership agreement with National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), a leading bank in the UAE, to provide financing options for Al Maha Tower in Abu Dhabi.
The agreement was signed by Mr. Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al Za'abi, General Manager of Real Estate Bank, and Mr. Saif Ali Munakhas Al Shehhi, Senior General Manager of Domestic Banking Department, NBAD.
Under the terms of the agreement, NBAD will provide up to 90 percent financing to investors and property buyers of the Al Maha Tower residential development located at the Marina Square on Abu Dhabi's prestigious Reem Island.
“Real Estate Bank has actively pursued its strategic objectives, which include providing high-quality real estate properties across the country in support of the UAE Government's strategy of achieving sustainable development and economic growth. Our collaboration with NBAD contributes significantly to the success of our initiatives as it allows us to provide flexible financing terms to a wider range of buyer and investor profiles,” said Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al Za'abi, General Manager of Real Estate Bank.
Al Maha Tower encompasses 428 spacious apartments of different sizes and styles, including studios, one and two-bedroom units, as well as penthouses. It is also equipped with a wide range of amenities, including a swimming pool, health and fitness facilities, 24-hour security, intercoms, taxi call buttons, remote control lighting, home security and entry control.
Mr. Saif Ali Munakhas Al Shehhi said: “Since its inception in 1968, NBAD remains committed to work with its distinguished business partners to underpin the development of the nation and finance various sectors to strengthen the diversification of UAE economy.”
“NBAD is committed to support the initiatives of Real Estate Bank as we believe in the strong market value of its projects, particularly the Al Maha Tower,” he added.
“The financial options and packages on offer are highly flexible and competitive, and will cater to the requirements of investors and buyers as we are constantly on the lookout for services that benefit our customers,” Al Shehhi concluded.
Al Maha Tower is expected to be completed in 2009. The project has been optimally conceptualised for comfortable home living, providing a tranquil yet cosmopolitan atmosphere and features an impressive external façade and elegant interiors.
It also provides easy access to important destinations in Abu Dhabi, and offers a highly strategic location at the Marina Square, one of the most prestigious areas on Reem Island. Marina Square is a 13.2 million square feet residential and commercial district comprising of a shopping arcade, marina, private beach access and sports facilities.
http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/UAE/220442
The agreement was signed by Mr. Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al Za'abi, General Manager of Real Estate Bank, and Mr. Saif Ali Munakhas Al Shehhi, Senior General Manager of Domestic Banking Department, NBAD.
Under the terms of the agreement, NBAD will provide up to 90 percent financing to investors and property buyers of the Al Maha Tower residential development located at the Marina Square on Abu Dhabi's prestigious Reem Island.
“Real Estate Bank has actively pursued its strategic objectives, which include providing high-quality real estate properties across the country in support of the UAE Government's strategy of achieving sustainable development and economic growth. Our collaboration with NBAD contributes significantly to the success of our initiatives as it allows us to provide flexible financing terms to a wider range of buyer and investor profiles,” said Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al Za'abi, General Manager of Real Estate Bank.
Al Maha Tower encompasses 428 spacious apartments of different sizes and styles, including studios, one and two-bedroom units, as well as penthouses. It is also equipped with a wide range of amenities, including a swimming pool, health and fitness facilities, 24-hour security, intercoms, taxi call buttons, remote control lighting, home security and entry control.
Mr. Saif Ali Munakhas Al Shehhi said: “Since its inception in 1968, NBAD remains committed to work with its distinguished business partners to underpin the development of the nation and finance various sectors to strengthen the diversification of UAE economy.”
“NBAD is committed to support the initiatives of Real Estate Bank as we believe in the strong market value of its projects, particularly the Al Maha Tower,” he added.
“The financial options and packages on offer are highly flexible and competitive, and will cater to the requirements of investors and buyers as we are constantly on the lookout for services that benefit our customers,” Al Shehhi concluded.
Al Maha Tower is expected to be completed in 2009. The project has been optimally conceptualised for comfortable home living, providing a tranquil yet cosmopolitan atmosphere and features an impressive external façade and elegant interiors.
It also provides easy access to important destinations in Abu Dhabi, and offers a highly strategic location at the Marina Square, one of the most prestigious areas on Reem Island. Marina Square is a 13.2 million square feet residential and commercial district comprising of a shopping arcade, marina, private beach access and sports facilities.
http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/UAE/220442
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