01 May 08 Real Estate – G Alert Rundown

Real Estate, G Alert Rundown 4/30/08

Google didn’t send me much today in terms of real estate news – information about real estate around the world and a story about a huge quarter in real estate sales is below.

Things aren’t so dandy if you’re a real estate developer, or real estate investor, in the United Arab Emirates. It looks like the return on investment (ROI) has dropped from 20% to as low as 5%. Reasons for the drop in the ROI stem from an increase in the cost of building materials and electricity. It is still a seller’s market in Dubai and surrounding areas, so investors won’t be leaving any time soon. There is more to read over at Gulf Daily News.

In Honolulu, HI real estate and ocean shipping company Alexander & Baldwin Inc. just reported that there revenue increased 52 percent to $582.1 million in the first quarter of ’08. The surge came from $187.4 million in real estate sales. Their Ocean shipping company posted a $2.9 million dollar loss. Read more of Alexander & Baldwin 1Q profit soars on real estate sales on chron.com.

In London, banks are ignoring commercial real estate foreclosures in fear of getting assets that they cannot sell and have to maintain. JP Morgan thinks that London city office rent may decrease as much as 16% from job cuts. Some analysts say that ignoring, or forgiving foreclosures for a long period may prove beneficial and others caution the use of the strategy. Read the detailed story about a new problem for UK banks on guardian.co.uk.

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Tags: commercial real estate, dubai real estate, HI real estate, Real Estate

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Reader's Comments

Dubai Real Estate (3 comments.) | 31 Oct 2008 2:24 am
Things aren’t so dandy if you’re a real estate developer, or real estate investor, in the United Arab Emirates.
Svetlana FeWo Berlin (2 comments.) | 29 Nov 2008 2:01 am
I agree with you. I have a friend who’s a real estate developer at UAE and he told me that ROI indeed dropped to as low as 5%. Real estate is really a tough business because the ROI is low and you have many competitors.
kelly (1 comments.) | 05 Jun 2009 6:22 am
Love reading your blog, nice post! Sure to comeback.