The International Herald Tribune reports that Robert Falor, the so-called “condo-hotel king” of Miami is defending himself against lawsuits that he mis-managed clients money. His attorney says it is all a mistake, and the “nearly bankrupt,” Falor is actually the victim of a “flawed business strategy.”

This defense is unlikely to make him very popular in certain circles.

International Real Estate Investment reports on a 56-acre piece of downtown Las Vegas up for sale at “50% below January 2007 appraised value.”

We are unsure if that is a bargain or not. You will have to make your own decision as to whether Las Vegas’ real estate values have bottomed out just yet.

Although, the Financial Times thinks not. According to a recent report from a leading British Motgage provider, the credit crunch will last at least another 18 months, and British property prices will remain stagnant, with lending institutions struggling to find funds.

Nubricks thinks Tunisia is the next up and comer in the African property investment market, and describes it as the Dubai of the Mediterreanean. Once again, you will have to make your own decision as to whether the credit crunch will have any impact on that market.

The US treasury department pulled the plug on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and announced it would put Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae under strict federal control and may invest up to 100 billion dollars in each group. This news caused stock prices to soar, the market now secure in the knowledge that no matter how badly the banks screw up, the government will step in a use US taxpayers money to bail them out. There is a word for this and the word is -

Communism

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the rate of U.S. home mortgages overdue or in foreclosure rose again in the second quarter as housing markets weakened, particularly in California and Florida, and more borrowers defaulted on so-called prime loans.

Further afield, the New Zealand Herald is reporting brisk sales of apartments in Auckland as rock-bottom prices are being accepted by desperate sellers. Not quite as badly hit as some US markets, prices are down considerably.

Dubai is in for a sharp correction in the real estate sector reports Zawya. Arabic only this link.

Condo.com, the World’s Largest Condo Marketplace, announced today it has formed a partnership with Hotels.com, the leading global travel portal.  This partnership enables Condo.com to provide its customers with travel resources and vacations from the most recognized name in online travel and leisure.

Consumers now have access to thousands of vacation rentals and hotel accommodations with an easy and seamless online booking engine. “When we launched Condo.com we expected to focus exclusively on buying and selling.  We learned over time however that a large percentage of our customers are looking for vacation rentals and condo hotel rooms for short-term stay. We partnered with the best in the industry to meet this need and now our customers can easily access thousands of quality vacation rental properties and hotel rooms in prime locations around the world - all fully integrated into our site,” says Richard Swerdlow, CEO of Condo.com.  “Additionally, with condos considered a second home or vacation property, many consumers are traveling to other states or countries to consider the real estate purchase. It made sense to add a hotel booking into the user experience”, Swerdlow added. For more details visit:

About Condo.com
Condo.com is the world’s largest condominium marketplace with over 600,000 listings valued in excess of $150 billion. The site receives over 1 million visitors monthly and is dedicated to the evolution and prosperity of the condominium real estate market. Condo.com improves and simplifies the way people buy, rent, sell, manage, market and enjoy the condo lifestyle. Condo.com lists condos for sale and for rent in the United States and 70+ countries around the world and cost-effectively delivers exposure and qualified leads to developers, brokers and for-sale-by-owners through the seamless distribution of its listings to a global network of real estate websites visited by over 15 million viewers per month. Condo.com is privately held and headquartered in Miami, Florida.

About Hotels.com
For more than 15 years, hotels.com has provided great prices on the places you want to stay for both leisure and business travel. We know that the hotel experience is an important part of your trip. This is why we provide insight on our broad selection of hotels through current, unbiased hotel reviews from discerning guests just like you who have stayed at the property. Hotels.com acts as a resource for like-minded guests to review and rate properties, give recommendations and gather information for upcoming trips

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Hotels.com offers more than 70,000 properties worldwide from hotels to bed-and-breakfasts to condos to all-inclusive resorts. We offer the information you need to book the perfect trip through detailed hotel reviews, Flexible Booking and our Price Match Guarantee. Hotels.com is an operating company of Expedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE).

Dunsborough Beach, WA

The tide has finally turned on the holiday home market in south west WA.

Perth’s millionaires are finding it hard to move their second (or third or fourth) homes. Dunsborough, the premier town of the region and conveniently close to the Margaret River wineries, has seen the median house price fall 11.4% to $655,000 in the year to June. It might be worth remembering that as recently as 2003 the median house price in Dunsborough was $252,000.

Only 30% of Dunsborough property is owned by local residents: the vast majority of property owners are based in Perth, 2.5hours north of the town. Dunsborough is pure holiday town and holiday towns are often the first to feel the winds of change in real estate as very few people actually need a holiday home.

There are about 300 homes for sale, 100 more than at the same time last year, so it appears not just interest rates but also the sharemarket woes are having an effect on the holiday home real estate market.

Margaret River, Winery

Margaret River, inland from Dunsborough has not yet seen such a dramatic drop in house prices as Dunsborough. House price growth was still 12% for the year to June but agents are cautious and far from optimistic.

Further north the Busselton market is still rising too, but only just with growth of 1.4%, after showing average growth rates of 22% for the last five years.

So although the party may finally be over for the SW - its been a pretty good party for a very long time.

Mumbai real estate bosses were forced to take some drastic measures to keep up the interest in real estate in the city, after there was a slump in the beginning of July. The total real estate intake of the city was been left at just thirty percent of what it was. Of course prices have been affected by this slump with them going done anywhere between 10 to 15 per cent in most places. Industry insiders say that this is also the case in Delhi.

Signs of the slump were seen when there was less than the usual amount of curiosity, in some property exhibitions showcasing mainly residential properties all over the city in places such as Thane, Navi Mumbai and Central Mumbai. Moreover the curiosity of prospective buyers didn’t turn into bookings, the developers whose properties were showcased, reported. But there is no reason to worry it seems. The recent drop in interest for real estate can be compensated for by the demand for demand for office spaces in the city.

Any normal reaction to such a slowdown is the immediate slashing of prices, but developers have decided to give the customer more alternatives instead, this time. All the developers who are at the receiving end of such trends have decided to add more value per purchase of property like free parking of vehicles in the premises and taking upon themselves the stamp duty and registration cost.

This has been possible only because the developers taking these steps are big timers, who have been in the business since a long time. If this was the case with the small timers then these steps would have not been able to be taken. The state government plans to introduce a slew of changes to positively impact the slump in the market including allotting more land for redevelopment. This will increase construction in the city’s suburbs which is an advantage for housing societies that are opting for redevelopment as they will be its first beneficiaries when it comes into effect.

Had the big timers not taken these steps to re-invoke the interest of the prospective buyer, a downfall in prices would have been the only option.

Red Square, Moscow

In August 18-24, the price of square meter of housing decreased by 1.5% and became equivalent to $4,140 in the economy-class segment of Moscow residential-development market. According to Agent 002 Real Estate Agency, the number of apartments for sale fell by 5%.

The primary real estate market of Moscow business class housing showed a negative dynamics. The price of square meter of housing here was $6,559, which is 0.5% cheaper than last week, and the volume of supply shrank by 5%.

Moscow’s premium residential real estate development market has shown a price drop of square meter by 1.2% to $16,950. The number of apartments for sale rose by 4.6%

Last week, a considerable increase of supply and decrease of price of one square meter in luxury and business-class apartments was registered in the secondary real estate market of Moscow. According to analytical department of Agent 002 Real Estate Agency, some substantial changes occurred in the market from August, 18 to August, 24, 2008. The price of one square meter in apartments of economy class grew by 0.2% and reached $5,755, whereas a number of apartments for sale grew by 0.1%.

The volume of supply in the secondary real estate market of Moscow in business-class segment rose by 4.4%, while the price of sq. m. dropped by 0.1% to $ 8,748.

In Moscow secondary luxury real estate market, the price of sq. m. fell by 0.7 % to $15,780 with supply volume increased by 1.5%

premium residential real estate development market has shown a price drop of square meter by 1.2% to $16,950. The number of apartments for sale rose by 4.6%.

It used to be a surprise when Australia’s Reserve Bank changed the official cash rate. Not any more - and it is more with a “finally” than surprise that greeted the Reserve Bank’s announcement.

The Reserve Bank has dropped of the cash rate of 0.25% to 7.00%, down from 7.25%, and thus ending 7 years without an official interest rates cut. Anyone who taised a mortgage since 2001 in Australia have never had an interest rate cut!

The major banks have backed off threats of not dropping the retail rates to reflect the cash rate and the major banks: Commonwealth, ANZ, Westpac and NAB have all dropped their floating rates by 0.25%. St George Bank went a step further dropping their prime rate by 0.30%

RBA Governor Glenn Stevens made this statement:

”The evidence is that the tight financial conditions, in conjunction with other factors including higher fuel costs and lower asset values, have exerted the needed restraint on demand.

Indicators of household spending have recorded subdued outcomes over recent months, and credit expansion to both households and businesses has slowed.”

Increasing fuel and food prices may have done their job of restraining demand and cooler the strong domestic Australian economy. This may not be the last official interest rate cut either. The RBA has a difficult balancing act with the mining sector, in particular, remaining strong while much of the rest of the economy contracting, particularly manufacturing. The Australian dollar strengthened on the back of the RBA news.

There are mixed comments in the sector as to whether further rate cuts are to be expected, they are certainly not guaranteed unless there is a sudden weakening in the mining and related sectors. As usual property investors require a crystal ball to predict mortgage rates and are much better off applying dollar cost averaging principals to interest rate management: where they always run a number of loans with different fixed terms thus mitigating any significant change in interest rates.

Photo Credit: David D Muir

The prevailing high prices in Dubai’s real estate sector are not sustainable for long and a slowdown is likely, a top asset management company chief executive said this week

Dubai Marina

“Prices are bound to stop growing at this maddening scale,” said Shehab Gargash, chief executive officer (CEO) of Daman Investments, on the sidelines of a press conference to announce investment in renewable energy venture. “Will it be a crash? I don’t think so. I doubt we will see a significant long-term bust. But we will see corrections.”

As long as demand continues to grow, the real estate sector will witness growth and prices will rise, he added. “But Dubai is no longer a straightforward build-and-sell proposition.”

In recent weeks, the real estate sector in the UAE has been under the spotlight for various reasons, including a much discussed, and criticised, Morgan Stanley report which said that Dubai is headed for a 10 per cent dip in prices in two years when supply comes online.

Gargash, however, did not elaborate on the kind of correction the market may experience but said that the market is in consolidation phase. He said that the market will see a differentiation in terms of good quality and bad quality developers.

A developer agrees with Gargash’s thoughts. Given the “unrealistic” spiralling of the price of land in Dubai, property prices have been skyrocketing, said a developer and “that is simply unsustainable.” Construction costs in Dubai are also soaring, adding to the problem.

“The prices are unreasonably high”, said Mohammad Nimer, chief executive officer of MAG Group Property Development. “It is becoming less and less attractive for investors and end-users and so, a correction is bound to happen. And people who bought will actually realise that the price they paid was ‘inflated’ and the secondary market investors and buyers will stop and think before they invest,” he added.

Over the past month, the Government of Dubai has passed a mortgage law that makes registration compulsory and also laws that crack down on off-plan sales, giving rise to fears of speculation coming down and the market getting badly dented. “The new laws passed will have a positive impact on the market, though they will slow down the market. The market will be harder but it will be stronger,” he said.

It is premiums that the market has witnessed in recent years that may become a thing of the past, said Sudhir Kumar, managing director of Realtors International, adding that he is not expecting a slackening of the market in the next two years.

“There may be a temporary shake up of the market, given the corrective measures being taken,” he said. “What is possible, is when all the regulations are passed, then the abnormal rise in premiums will not happen.”

Burj Dubai Passes 688 meters

Burj Dubai, the  tower being developed by Emaar Properties PJSC, has reached a new record height of 688 meters. The tower became the world’s tallest after surpassing North Dakota, USA’s KVLY-TV mast (628.8 metres; 2,063 ft) in April 2008. With over 160 floors, the tower also has the largest number of storeys in any building.
When completed, Burj Dubai will meet all four criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which classifies the world’s tallest structures. CTBUH measures the height of buildings to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, the top of the roof and the tip of the spire, pinnacle, antenna, mast or flag pole.

Designed by Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), Burj Dubai is constructed by high-rise experts South Korea’s Samsung Corporation. Turner Construction International is the project and construction manager.

Currently, some 7,500 professionals and skilled workers are employed on-site at Burj Dubai. Cladding work is nearing completion and work has started on the interiors, which will boast superior finishes. The best energy efficient technologies are being deployed to ensure that the iconic building is also a standard for energy usage and recycling of water.

Burj Dubai anchors Emaar’s flagship mega-project, the $20 billion Downtown Burj Dubai. Described as the new heart of the city, Downtown Burj Dubai is a mixed-use neighbourhood with premium hotels, exclusive business facilities, modern residences, shopping malls and leisure facilities.

Its that time of the year when many Australian property investors and owners will be receiving their Council rates bill. It is of course traditional to complain about ever increasing Council taxes but they may be the best value for money taxes that you pay on behalf of your property.

Unlike the sales tax on an Australian property purchase which disappears off into the government’s general slush fund, Council taxes are actually used for local facilities and services.
Councils in Australia typically fund the following from their rates take:

Life Saving Championships, Scarborough Beach, Perth

• planning and regulation
• governance and administration
• transport infrastructure
• rubbish collection and sanitation
• youth, family and aged services
• security and emergency services
• building infrastructure
• sinking fund (reserves)
• environmental
• parks infrastructure
• recreation and culture
• library services

Councils are variously called cities or shires, typically in the bush, but all have the function of local government. Councils pay for local libraries, which are free to residents as well as facilities such as swimming pools and sports fields which are free or low cost for everyone. Council’s pay for events such as public firework displays and subsidize events which bring business to the areas such as fun runs and sporting fixtures, and arts festivals such as “opera in the park” type events. The local council is also responsible for maintaining local roads and footpaths - state and federal authorities pay for major freeways and arterial roads.

Councils have a huge effect on the quality of life in a community and therefore directly influences the house values in that community. A community with many well-maintained green open spaces generally enjoys better property values than an area with few facilities.

Spare a thought for the Shire of East Pilbara this Shire is largest Shire or Council in the world comprising an area of over 379,571 km² (larger than the State of Victoria). Total population of East Pilbara: around 5,600: largest town Newman. That’s a lot of land to cover with very few rate payers.

Photo Credit: Moving to Australia

domain.com.au has a high profile in the Australian real estate market which is hardly surprising as its part of the Fairfax Digital Network which owns a number of Australian TV channels and newspapers including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age (Melbourne). domain.com.au also sponsors the long-running popular “Hot Property” TV program.

domain.com.au

The site is a one stop shop whether you are interested in property sales or the rental market. Its easy to compare current sales prices and rental prices too. Its a slick design reflecting the major budget of the owners - but clicking on some of the major navigation tabs will somewhat confusingly take you off to related Fairfax sites without an obvious return link to domain.com.au. Listings level of detail reflects the advertising agent’s diligence but can include extensive details - well extensive by Australian standards. Thumbnails of photos show at the top level, but the pop up view of photos is easy to navigate and also incorporates location map views.

Although with extensive listings, the site is not completely comprehensive. Particularly lower priced rentals. The listing fees of A$700 for sale and A$352 for a rental means that with low rental vacancies there the cost of advertising is a disincentive.

The are good generic tools for you to see suburb profiles and price statistics. Although the paid detailed property reports options are not integrated and requires the user to re-enter the property’s details to order the report.

Property searching is intuitively based on map navigation or the 4 digit postcode attached to all Australian addresses.

domain.com.au is the first Australian real estate site to incorporate the controversial Google Maps “Street View” which includes images of every property has a photograph taken from the nearest public access. The photographing of properties throughout Australia has been dogged by controversy by those concerned by the potential invasion of privacy but the reality is that a better tool has rarely been available for the real estate industry. Now finally it is possible to see an unbiased view of the kerb appeal of a property without the clever angle of the agent’s photography.

If you sign up as a free member you will also be able to access the My Domain tools including Home Alert, Property Shortlist.

One of the major property listing sites domain.com.au shouldn’t be ignored but as a paid site tightly aligned with traditional newspaper based real estate advertising it will be interested to see how its allowed to evolve past the traditional property advertising models.