City-scoop Abu Dhabi

Cityscape Abu Dhabi 2009 has come and passed, and although thousands of people flocked to the annual property exhibition, the cheque books certainly weren't too visible. New projects were few and far between and most of those in the crowd wore the telltale suits and name cards of real estate professionals and exhibitors.

Organisers said the exhibition was bigger than last year's edition, despite the market downturn with more than 300 companies from over 30 countries represented. Industry leaders spoke in glowing terms of the prospects of the exhibition.

Speaking to on day one, Philip Ward, CEO of Abu Dhabi Finance, was optimistic about the event. "There were a few doubting Thomases out there about what Cityscape would be like this year. As I look out, there seems to be a fair amount of people here and by the look of the car park, there is an awful lot of people wanting to come in, so I think the signs are it's busy and very positive, and I'm very glad we're here."

Philip believes Abu Dhabi's restrained approach to the global downturn is sensible. "In the last six months, what has happened around the world, has had an impact on both the primary and secondary markets... but that only goes to prove that the UAE doesn't stand apart from the rest of the world, it too has suffered the shocks of the world recession."

"Looking specifically at Abu Dhabi, it's far better placed to recover and recover quickly the demand for housing outweighs supply... so I believe that there are some real bargains to be had in Abu Dhabi, because you've got prices for some developments 15% to 20% lower than they were in the summer of last year, yet they are nine months closer to completion than they were."

"Generally speaking, property increases in price as it gets closer to handover when it can actually start to generate an income ... so you have in Abu Dhabi now lenders around who can provide finance, you've got property available that's off-plan and on the secondary market, that's close to completion, and it's priced lower than it was selling in the summer of last year. So for the 'proper' investor, who views property primarily as a long-term asset, Abu Dhabi, I believe, presents a real opportunity."

For Philip, this presents a great opportunity for Abu Dhabi Finance, which was launched late last year, not to mention buy-to-let investors.

"There are good buying opportunities at the moment in Abu Dhabi, particularly in the secondary market and a number of those buyers will be mortgage financed, and we can help with that.They are pretty much guaranteed decent rental yields on those properties because of the shortage in the supply of housing at all levels... the surveys all predict that the gap is going to be there for the next three or four years. With some developments due to be complete next year like those at Al Raha Beach... and a number of other developments that will be finished by the end of 2009/2010 I think you've got a very strong chance of letting these out for a good yield."

The master developers including Aldar, Sorouh and Mubadala all made announcements, none too earth shaking. Sorouh introduced a new initiative for Alghadeer, a mixed use development located between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

According to Sorouh, the plan will include price reductions, revised built-up plans to boost equity value and rescheduled payment plans. Mounir D Haidar, CEO of Sorouh, said, "Passing on cost savings to customers and enhanced planning of the mix of units in the first phase, allows us to create an attractive offer for our customers."

The company also announced a consolidation and rephasing of the development. All purchased properties will be completed on time, according to Sorouh.

The developer also announced the launch of Khidmah, a services management company, which is a joint venture between Sorouh and Capital Investment LLC.

Khidmah will provide property consultancy, facilities, maintenance, leasing and re-sales, cleaning, property management and landscaping.

Although master developers paraded their models (many of which looked suspiciously like those at Cityscape Dubai 2009), some smaller real estate firms were less buoyant.

One marketing professional said, "We've spent a lot of money on advertising over the past few months, all for nothing. For us, Cityscape is the last indicator of whether we can continue."

Yet for those developers that survive, the climate is sure to change as buying will eventually pick up. At least that's what Philip says.

"Buyers in Abu Dhabi have taken, I believe, a sensible pause for breath but I'm beginning to see signs that they're beginning to return. Prices have come down, certainly in the secondary market, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if in the second half of this year, we started to see a significant uplift in buying activity."