Ryan Mahoney is the Managing Director of Better Homes, one of the UAE’s most prominent real estate agencies that has been in operation in the region since 1986.

Better Homes has been through the thick and thin of the ever changing landscape of UAE’s property market, particularly in the Dubai market. This has earned Better Homes a solid reputation as well as given them an unprecedented operational know-how in the region.

We asked Ryan to share a few thoughts about the real estate scene in Dubai and the UAE at large with us, and he was kind enough to oblige.

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Thanks to Flickr user Emiraty

With all the doom and gloom surrounding the property markets, we felt it was about time to take a look at those markets that have remained robust and healthy throughout the current credit crunch. So here are five markets that have consistently performed well, regardless of the ups and downs seen recently.

Manhattan, New York

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Continued delays in the completion of residential property projects in Dubai this year will continue in 2008, while a price correction is most likely in 2009 when supply exceeds demand, according to a new market report. “We believe that the delay in property handovers seen in 2007 will likely continue over the next 12 to 18 months,” investment bank EFG Hermes said in its UAE outlook report for 2008.

EFG are forecasting prices to rise by between 5 and 10% next year but suggest they are likely to peak in the second half of the year when property supply rises. The gap in supply in 2007 was roughly 20,000 residential units worth Dh34 billion said housing finance firm Tamweel. They are also predicting about 50,000 units of supply, with a demand of 54,000 units in 2008, taking the aggregate shortage to 24,000 units.

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^{Lyons, France}

A rather unusual new construction project was revealed this week. Dubai entrepreneur and developer, Buti Saeed Al Ghandi, who heads up the Emivest capital film, has just announced his intention to build a replica of a French city in the middle of the desert.

The city in question is Lyons and the plan was formally announced, strangely enough, in Lyons on Wednesday – the real one. Lyons’ mayor, Gerard Collomb said, “We are flattered that Lyon can inspire… a city like Dubai.”

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Should it be a Hummer? Or a Roller? Perhaps a Mercedes or the new Cadillac Escalade?

No, it’s tough going out there and this calls for something equal to the challenge. Hard decisions to make sometimes require a little more thought than usual. Especially when it comes to something as important as which golf cart to buy next time round.

Luxury carts are trying to break into a new market and are looking for interested golfers in Dubai. Dubai would be a logical choice when you think about it because Dubai has a large selection of golf courses, many of which are long by European standards. What else should you buy for the avid golfer who already has everything? Our personal favourite is the H2 Hummer, but we’re sure there will be some dissenting voices. If you’re a Mercedes’ man, you’re a Mercedes’ man and that’s all there is to it.

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Following on from a look at the development in Dubai over the last few years, (If you build it, they will come) here is a closer look at one of the major new developments currently underway. Construction of the Burj Dubai is now over halfway through construction and according to the official website, is currently over 574 meters tall, with 154 completed stories. Along the way, the builders have surpassed a number of previous records in their creation of the World’s tallest building:

February 2007
Burj Dubai surpasses the Sears Tower as the building with the most floors.
May 13, 2007
Burj Dubai sets record for vertical concrete pumping on any building at 452 m (1,483 ft), surpassing the 449.2 m (1,474 ft) to which concrete was pumped during the construction of Taipei 101.[7]
July 21, 2007
Burj Dubai becomes the tallest building on Earth surpassing Taipei 101 which stands at a height of 509.2 m (1,671 ft).The previous day, the head of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), Antony Wood, had confirmed that it “surpassed the height of Taipei 101 structurally (concrete).” However, he also added “We will not classify it as a building until it is complete, clad and at least partially open for business to avoid things like the Ryungyong [sic] project. Taipei 101 is thus officially the world’s tallest until that happens.”
August 12, 2007
Burj Dubai surpassed the height of the Sears’ Tower antenna which stands at a height of 527.3 m (1,730 ft).
September 03, 2007
Burj Dubai becomes the second-tallest freestanding structure, surpassing the 540 m (1,772 ft) Ostankino Tower in Moscow, Russia.

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It seems to me, the Dubai city planners may have watched the Kevin Costner movie, “Field of Dreams,” one too many times. But they weren’t far wrong. They did build it and they did come. In fact, they are still coming and the planned developments over the next few years should bring even more. I found some interesting photos of Dubai which show the development over the last few years. The first one is taken in 1989 and the second in 2005. Spot the difference? There has been quite a stunning amount of development in Dubai, and these two photograph, seen together, graphically demonstrate that fact. The next few are some projections of future developments. It’s hard to see an end in sight, with the ‘Palm Islands” and “World Archipelago” developments pushing the boundaries even further.

Dubai 1989:

Dubai 2005:

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Lacking the huge natural resources of Abu Dhabi or the world class infrastructure of Dubai, the smaller members of the United Arab Emirates do have developmental advantages of their own in terms of geographic location and tourist potential.

Ras al Khaimah (population 205,000), the northernmost of the emirates, close by the Omani enclave, reported investment of Dh 100bn in 2006 (approximately $25bn) with the tourism and real estate sectors being particularly active. However, the emirate’s economic plans place industrial development in the key position.

Fujairah (pop. 127,000) has the advantage of being the only UAE port outside the Persian Gulf. Strategic facilities are being constructed to take advantage of this, anticipating any military or naval action that could close the Straits of Hormuz at the mouth of the gulf. These include an oil pipeline from Abu Dhabi and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage hub.The latter is a project being undertaken by Dubai Multi Commodities Centre in conjunction with LNG Impel, part of Galveston LNG of Canada. The go-ahead for this important project, representing a capital outlay of Dh 8bn, is contingent on arrangements for Qatar to use the facility. The Fujairah authorities have plans to reclaim two square km from the Arabian Sea for the project.

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