With the spring season already in full swing, we thought that we’d share a couple of overseas property exhibitions for 2008 that you can pencil into your dairies. It might be just the right time to find some bargains or establish some key relationships. Please drop us comments on any exhibitions we might have left out as the list open & bound to grow.

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At the Qatar Property Investment Forum held in Qatar on Monday and Tuesday. Chadi Abou Daher, Regional Manager of the World Trade Center, welcomed the delegates. Daher highlighted the fact that Qatar has emerged as one of the most attractive real estate markets and hoped that the forum would be a yearly platform offering insights into the latest trends emerging in the Gulf region and Qatar in particular.

Said Bahjat Said, President of ‘The Land Holding’, said that the Forum has come at a time when the property Market is enjoying immense growth and the prospects looked reassuring. He stressed the importance of embracing the best international practices and standards.

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A lavish Gala Dinner was held at the Royal Orchid Sheraton in Bangkok on Saturday night, to announce the winners of the 2007 Thailand Property Awards. More than 350 of Thailand´s real estate elite were in attendance to celebrate the award.

A three phase process is used to determine the winner in each category:
First, the real estate industry were invited to nominate companies in the 12 categories. Nominees could not nominate themselves, nor nominate in a category where there may be a conflict of interest. This phase closed on 31st August with over 260 nominations received.

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The upcoming CityScape Asia exhibition in Singapore promises to be a spectacular event, with a golf tournament, cocktail parties and a number of conferences and workshops organized to allow visitors the opportunity to claim, “It was all work.” Last year’s event was a resounding success, attracting 4,600 industry professionals from 53 countries, showcasing 125 exhibiting companies.CityScape Asia will be held in Singapore, between 15th and 17th April, 2008. According to CityScape, Singapore was chosen as the venue for the following reasons:

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Even for us, it is sometimes difficult to sort the informational wheat from the chaff and we are looking at conflicting reports coming from the Indian property markets at the moment.

On the one hand, its all good news: Mumbai Billionaire Mukesh Ambani is busy creating what is likely to be the “most expensive home” in the world. The Financial Times is reporting that “property prices have soared” and the Indian Government has now allowed direct foreign investment in all construction projects without prior approval, which means foreign investors are permitted to invest in wholly owned subsidiaries or in joint ventures with Indian real estate companies. There are a few minimum requirements, such as minimum capitalization requirements must be met within six months of the commencement of operations and the capital must remain locked in for three years thereafter. Foreign-invested projects must include at least 50,000 square meters of floor space and at least half the project must be completed within five years of receiving statutory clearance.

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Football legend, Sir Bobby Charlton, one of the most well-known figures in English and World football was in Dubai today, to officially launch the third season of Manchester United Soccer Schools as part of the Dubai Sports City project.

Details of the new program, which is expected to be the most successful to date, were announced at the launch event, which was attended by not only Sir Bobby, but also representatives of Dubai Sports City and presenting sponsor Milo. This is the third season of MUSS skills development sessions and is set to attract over 750 boys and girls from across the region, with over 60 nationalities creating a truly multi-cultural sporting environment.

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So you want to buy that villa a few metres from a golf course in a hot, exotic country and are not quite convinced why to buy…here are Golf Homes Worldwide Magazine’s ten reasons to invest in a golf property:

1. A good investment. The lifestyle factors are important when planning a property purchase however the financial aspects are key. The benefit of purchasing on a course is that the demand for golf property remains high, providing an exit from the market at any point. Buying a property off-plan will also usually result in significant capital gain by the time the course has opened.
2. Money earner. There is excellent holiday rental potential both in the domestic and foreign markets as the popularity of golf continues to grow. On some developments rental returns of up to 6% per annum are offered (for a set period of time after purchase).
3. Year-round use. Buy a property in a country such as Spain, Dubai, Florida or South Africa and not only will you be able to make the most of your property all year round but you would also have the option to rent it out 365 days a year.
4. Value for money. Compare average property prices in the UK of £200,000 to just about anywhere else in the world and you can get so much more for your money if you buy overseas. Plus, how many opportunities are there to buy on a golf complex in the UK? Read the rest of this entry »

UAE property developer, Damac Holding, said it will definitely transform itself into a publicly listed company over the next three years. The company also expects to see the total number of its projects to rise from dhs15 billion, today, to a whopping dhs 50 billion by 2009. This is the first time Damac has publicly commented on its financials.

Speaking exclusively to 7DAYS, Damac chairman, Hussein Sajwani, said the company hoped to list on a Dubai exchange.“In the coming three years we definitely want to go public and get listed. We want to continue to be a premiere, high-end, quality product provider to our customers,” he said.

Sajwani effectively ruled-out any chance of listing the firm on the fledgling Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX), despite the fact the firm has embarked on an international level expansion plan. “I favour listing on a Dubai market,” he said. “Dubai Financial Market would be my favourite choice, but of course we are waiting for some of the rules and regulations to be amended, which are in the pipeline.”

Damac recently announced projects in Qatar and Abu Dhabi and will formally announce a development in a key area of Beirut in front of the Venezia Hotel. It also hopes to launch a project in Amman, Jordan by August. “We have been surveying markets as far as China and as far as Morocco,” Sajwani said.

“We hope to be in about 12 countries over the next three years, although our plans are for mainly the Middle East or places three or four hours flying distance.”

EMPEX Originally uploaded by kunlay.

FACTS & FIGURES

Dates:
26th to 28th of June

Location:
Barbicane Exhibition Center, City of London, UK

Exhibitors:
120

Exhibitors from:
Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey & International companies, Serbia & Montenegro, Cyprus

Visitors:
2000

Visitors from:
USA, Israel, Japan, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Republic of South Africa, Canada, Australia, Britain and Holland

Accompanying Events:
Numerous banquets and business-mixers during the event

Conference Participants:
600

General Concepts:
EMPEX Ehibition has to present emerging property markets in Europe to investors. During the event, there will be presented investment offers of particular cities, regions and private corporations. During the conferences we will introduce the most important information about emerging markets and investing possibilities.

Organisers:
The Report - team of proffesionals with over 10 years experience in exhibitions and publishing for real estate industry.

Website: http://www.empex.pl/

Exhibitions company Homebuyer Events, which organises exhibitions for residential property investors, is considering a sale of the business, the Daily Telegraph has learnt.

It is understood that Homebuyer Events has appointed corporate finance boutique Media Mergers to advise the company on a potential sale following an unsolicited approach from a mystery buyer. Sources said the company is likely have an operating profit of around £2m and could be sold for £15m-£20m.

Homebuyer Events, which organises exhibitions in London, Manchester and Scotland, was founded by entrepreneurs Nick Clark and Michael Bridge in the early 1990s. Mr Bridge has since left the company but remains a shareholder.

Potential buyers for the company could include business-to-business publishers such as Centaur, United Business Media and Emap, according to banking sources. DMG World Media, DMGT’s exhibitions division, was also tipped as a potential acquirer.

Approximately 50pc of Homebuyer Event’s shows are dedicated to overseas property investing, which has become increasingly popular among Britons.
Source: Ben Harrington Telegraph