Prices in Dalaman, Turkey expected to rise when budget flights arrive
Property prices in Dalaman are expected to rise in 2008 because budget airline Easyjet will launch a new service between Gatwick and Dalaman airport, 4 times a week starting in March 2008.
“The long-anticipated arrival of no-thrills flights to the Turkish coast is big news”, Dominic Whiting, editor of the Buying in Turkey guide reportedly said, adding: “Improving access from the UK should have a very positive effect on tourism and the property market in Dalaman and other nearby resorts – with a recent Europe-wide study by Savills finding an average price premium of 37% for property in an area served by a budget airline.”
Adding to the area’s appeal is an 18-hole golf course due for completion at the end of this year and 70,000 new hotel beds being created under ambitious government-led development plans. A road tunnel, opened in 2006, brings the upmarket yachting resort of Gocek within a 15 minute drive.
Russia received $45bn of FDI in 2007
Total foreign direct investment (FDI) in to Russia is estimated to have reached $45bn in 2007, almost doubling from the $26bn received a year earlier, according to Russian Deputy PM and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin.
Kudrin added that it was the second year in a row that FDI had doubled, rising from $13bn in 2005 to $26bn in 2006.
Cost of office space in Düsseldorf jumped by 51% in 2007
The cost of renting office space in Düsseldorf rose by 51% in 2007, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s latest European Office Property Clock report. This was followed by major European capital cities including Moscow (+49%), Edinburgh (+44%), London (+21%), Madrid (+16%) and Paris (+13%).
Alastair Hughes, Jones Lang LaSalle’s CEO EMEA reportedly said: “Although another eight markets moved into the ‘rental growth slowing’ quarter of the European office clock in the last three months, rental growth expectations generally remain positive.”
In 2007, take-up reached an all-time high of 14m sqm, about 7% more than the previous year. Apart from the capital cities, the highest increase behind Düsseldorf was recorded in Lyon (+43%).
Demand was weaker compared to the previous year’s levels in Prague (-32%), The Hague (-30%) and Brussels (-23%). However, all markets showed positive net absorption of a combined 6.9m sqm over the year.
Regarding prime rental growth, 12 out of the 24 markets saw rents increase during Q4 2007, led by Luxembourg (+14.3%), Moscow (+13.3%) and Lyon (+4.2%).
The European Office Rental Index, based on the weighted performance of all 24 markets, increased by 1.5% over the fourth quarter of 2007, making prime rents in Europe 10.5% higher than one year ago.
Prices rise nationally by 29% in Bulgaria
Residential property prices (both new and old) in Bulgaria grew on average by 28.9% in 2007, reaching €558sqm, according to the country’s National Statistics Institute (NSI).
Bulgaria’s capital Sofia remains the country’s most expensive location at €927sqm, which amounts to a rise of 35% year-on-year. However, the Sofia region outside of the city still remains the country’s least expensive location at just €250sqm, but this has increased by 18.6% over the past year the NSI reported.
The coastal city of Varna came second, commanding an average price of €900sqm, up 34%. The other coastal city of Burgas remained reasonably steady showing price growth of 17.5% - bringing the price of residential property in the city to €737sqm.
The Bulgarian national real estate agency expects house prices to increase by 10-15% in 2008 and property markets in small towns with 50,000 people or less will record the biggest growth in house prices this year.
Worldwide News
Melbourne property prices catching up with Sydney
Melbourne house prices surged by 25% last year from A$370,059 in December 2006 to A$463,488 in December 2007, according to data released by Australian Property Monitors (APM).
Melbourne ’s boom compared to a rise of just 4.8% over the same period in Sydney, where house values rose to A$553,357. APM’s managing director Michael McNamara said that if both cities continued rising at the same pace in 2008, by 2009 Melbourne could overtake Sydney as Australia’s most expensive city to buy a house.
However, he thinks the current level of growth is unsustainable saying: “25 per cent growth in house values is ridiculous. People can only afford so much.
“Sydney apartment values are now A$370,000 and Melbourne unit values are barely 10 per cent cheaper at A$335,000. Melbourne properties have never been within 10 per cent of Sydney”, McNamara reportedly added.
APM reported that house prices in Brisbane rose by 20% last year to A$425,368, while apartment prices rose 11.3% to A$322,127. Adelaide’s houses prices rose 20% to A$400,649, while apartment prices jumped 24% to A$261,964. Canberra house values rose 14.6% in 2007, to A$506,570, with unit values up 11.4% to A$346,901.
House prices in Perth rose by just 1.7% to A$508,776 and apartments by 0.7% to A$348,464. APM expects Perth values to fall by up to 10% this year.
The stagnant Sydney market, on the other hand, should see some growth in 2008. After several years of almost no growth at all, APM is tipping Sydney units will rise by 5-10% this year.
Price growth to slow in South Africa
The South African residential property market is poised for another year of slowing price growth. However, Herschel Jawitz, CEO of Jawitz Properties, says the news is not all bad.
“With double digit growth since 2000 and eight rate increases over the last 18 months, it is no surprise that the market is set to take a pause in 2008. Price growth will probably be in single digits for the first time in seven years. By first world standards (and even in some third world countries), growth of eight to nine percent would be acceptable given inflation rates that sit between one and three percent”, Jawitz reportedly said.
The supply of new housing on to the market is said to be decreasing, with planning permits continuing to slow down. Any slowdown in new builds should help support both price and rental growth in the medium term.
Vietnam attracts record amount of FDI in 2007
Vietnam attracted a record amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2007, with over $20bn of FDI pledges, up 70% on 2006.
In 2007, almost 1,500 new projects were licensed. Most of them focused on construction, electronics production, telecommunications and other high-tech areas.
Vietnam ’s low labor costs and young, highly literate workforce have made the country a popular manufacturing hub in Asia.
Damac to invest $5.4bn in Egypt
Middle East developer, Damac Properties, is reportedly planning to invest 30bn Egyptian pounds ($5.4bn) into a project in New Cairo, a suburb of Egypt’s capital.
As part of the first phase of the project, Damac plans to build a compound of villas called Hyde Park which will cover over 4.7m sqm and comprise of more than 3,000 detached and attached villas.
