Latest news with #propertyConsultant
Arabian Business
07-07-2025
- Business
- Arabian Business
UAE real estate: Abu Dhabi to add over 11,900 new homes by end of 2025 amid rising housing demand
Abu Dhabi will add 11,900 new homes to its residential real estate inventory by the end of 2025, but population growth and increased investor interest could mean that demand for housing outpaces supply, according to real estate advisory and property consultant Cavendish Maxwell. The UAE capital delivered 600 new residential properties in Q1 this year, meaning a total of 12,500 new homes will come to the market by the end of 2025. Another 7,000 are in the pipeline for Abu Dhabi in 2026, Cavendish Maxwell said. Strong demand boosts Abu Dhabi property prices Cavendish Maxwell's report on the Abu Dhabi residential real estate sector shows that in Q1 2025, sales values reached AED 3.7 billion across 1,300 transactions. Buyers paid an average AED 2.5 million per property – the highest quarterly value since Q1 2022. Apartment prices were up 12.3 per cent on last year, and 4 per cent quarter-on-quarter, whilst villas were 12.5 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively. Ready property transactions increased year-on-year and are most in demand, accounting for 900 transactions worth a total AED 2.3 billion. Mortgage values hit AED 1.7 billion across 800 loans. Whilst ready property volumes and values were up compared to the same period last year, they were down quarter-on-quarter, potentially reflecting reduced activity post-festive season and less trading during Ramadan and Eid. Andrew Laver, Cavendish Maxwell Associate Director – Abu Dhabi, said: 'The UAE capital is seeing a notable shift towards the secondary residential market, with sustained demand for ready homes and fewer off-plan project launches compared to previous quarters. The average sales transaction reached a record AED 2.5 million in Q1, with encouraging signs of broader price appreciation – a trend we expect to continue in the months ahead. Robust bank activity and strong project delivery during the early part of the year underscore the resilience and dynamism of the Abu Dhabi real estate sector.' There were 1,300 residential real estate transactions in Q1, with sales values reaching AED 3.7 billion. The majority – 900 – of these were for ready units, with off-plan properties accounting for 400 deals. Off-plan activity declined year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter, mainly because of fewer off-plan launches. Sales of ready properties increased year-on-year. The reduction in transaction volumes was mirrored by a decline in sales values. Despite the slowdown, the average ticket price on ready sales hit AED 2.5 million – the highest recorded value since Q1 2022. Apartments, villas and townhouses all saw price increases of over 12 per cent year-on-year. Quarter-on-quarter, apartment prices were up 4.1 per cent and villas/townhouses 2.4 per cent. Buyer activity continues to be driven by growing investor confidence, end-user interest, a macroeconomic environment and rental yields. In addition, initiatives from the Abu Dhabi government and developers – including payment plans, infrastructure development, long-term residency options and schemes to enhance quality of life in the capital – are stimulating real estate sales and supporting price growth. The biggest prices rise for villas was in Yas Island (15.5 per cent year-on-year, 3.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter), followed by Saadiyat Island (1.0 per cent and 2.3 per cent). Al Reef prices rose 4.4 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively. Whilst apartment sales continue to dominate Abu Dhabi's residential sector, their market share fell year-on-year, indicating a shift towards villas and townhouses, whose market share showed both an annual and quarterly increase. Growing demand for villas and townhouses is largely from end-users, and in particular from families potentially seeking more space, a garden and place to live long-term. AED 1.7 billion worth of mortgages across 800 individual loans were secured in Q1, with transactions on villas and townhouses up almost 60 per cent year-on-year and 3.5 per cent compared to the previous quarter, reinforcing higher demand for these properties and a shift towards end-users. By contrast, there was a decline in mortgage lending for apartments.
Japan Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
As property prices soar in Japan, the taint of death may not deter some buyers
The house that property consultant and ghost investigator Kazutoshi Kodama regularly surveys has a grim history: seven years ago, an elderly woman hanged herself in the bathroom and last year her son died alone, his body undiscovered for roughly 10 days. Kodama says he has stayed in the house — located in a quiet residential area in Chiba near Tokyo — from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. nearly 20 times, monitoring with four video cameras, a thermal camera, an electromagnetic field meter, an air pressure gauge, a thermometer and an IC recorder. He takes notes of the readings every hour. When he is satisfied there are no paranormal phenomena such as unexplained electromagnetic disturbances, he will issue a certificate deeming the property free of ghosts. In Japan, homes where murders or suicides have occurred are classified as jiko bukken — or "misfortunate properties" that may provoke psychological distress for new owners or tenants. So are homes with "socially isolated" deaths — the most common type of misfortunate property where bodies are not found for some time and sufficient decay has set in to warrant special cleaning services or even the replacement of floors and wallpaper. Modern thinking around misfortunate properties has been shaped by Japan's ancient Shinto religion, which holds that when a person dies with regrets, their spirit lingers on earth, often at the site of their death, bearing grudges or overwhelmed by grief. "Finding renters used to be virtually impossible," said Kodama, who founded his company, Kachimode, three years ago to offer what he calls ghost investigation services for prospective buyers and tenants. "But with rising real estate prices, people have begun considering misfortunate properties as an option." Real estate company Happy Planning's founder, Akira Ookuma, looks on while a worker cleans the floor of a house classified as a misfortunate property, in the city of Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, on June 2. | Reuters Japan's property prices have rocketed on a surge in the cost of construction materials and labor as well as an influx of overseas investors attracted by a weak yen and the relative cheapness of local real estate. The average price for a second-hand 70-square-meter condominium in Tokyo's 23 wards, for example, jumped by more than a third in May from a year earlier to ¥100.9 million ($697,000), according to real estate research firm Tokyo Kantei. An older, lonelier society Japan's rapidly aging population has led to more socially isolated deaths. The national policy agency's first-ever report on the issue said there were nearly 21,900 cases last year in which a death was not discovered for eight or more days. The trend is such that the elderly can find it difficult to rent as owners worry their properties may one day become stigmatized. Partly to mitigate this problem, the central government in 2021 issued guidelines recommending that three years after such a death, homes can shed their misfortunate property labels, potentially making it easier to find tenants. But owners and agents still need to make disclosures about the property's history to all prospective buyers and to renters if they inquire. The guidelines have spurred interest in misfortunate properties. Although Kodama may be unique in offering ghost investigative services, other real estate brokers are also seeking to capitalize on this emerging market. They say that some younger people have become more open to living in misfortunate properties while both domestic and overseas investors — many of whom are Chinese — are attracted by potential high yields. "Investors don't care (about the property's history) because they won't live there," said Akira Ookuma, founder of broker Happy Planning, adding that some hike rents after three years. Brokers also note that whereas the site of a murder may have to be sold for 80% below regular market prices or even fail to sell at all, for other misfortunate properties, the discount can be a relatively small 20%. MarksLife, which offers services for misfortunate properties such as ceremonies for lost souls performed by a Buddhist monk, says the properties it handles have an average investment return of 8.4%. By contrast, a studio apartment in central Tokyo has an expected average return of 3.55%, according to a CBRE survey. Japan's misfortunate properties are only going to rise in number, real estate brokers say. People age 65 or above who live alone currently account for 14% of all Japanese households, but in 20 years' time, they will form a fifth, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research estimates. Kodama has yet to sign off on the Chiba property — one he now rents with plans to sublet — as ghost-free. But he says he's done more than 70 investigations and only a fraction have revealed phenomena such as electromagnetic disturbances. For some prospective buyers, his certificate might be enough. For others, though, any misfortunate property is going to be a bridge too far. "Even with discounts, I'm going to stay away ... It's not just the potential for ghosts; I'm just creeped out by the unusual and unfortunate histories," said Mari Shimamura, a 24-year-old office worker.
Bloomberg
24-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Mumbai Housing Most Affordable in 15 Years, Knight Frank Says
House purchase affordability in Mumbai hit a 15-year high following the central bank's recent rate cuts that reduce mortgage costs, a property consultant's report said. An average household in Mumbai spent 48% of their income toward monthly installments of a home loan, versus 50% last year, according to Knight Frank's affordability index for the first six months of 2025.
