Real estate maintains healthy coverage in Q3

Despite the drop in new projects in the UAE, real estate companies maintained a healthy exposure in the local media with Emaar recording maximum coverage.

The Mediastow Q3 report on the real estate industry revealed that negative coverage of the property sector decreased considerably in the third quarter, compared to the same period last year. The report, the fifth in the series, analysed the media coverage of the UAE real estate sector, with a focus on Al Qudra Real Estate, Aldar, Emaar, Sorouh, Dubai Properties, Nakheel, Sama Dubai and Damac.

The 34-page report assessed the success of PR campaigns of the eight real estate developers, as well as threw light on how their media coverage fluctuated, and how it compared with each other.

Emaar – the largest real estate developer in region – maintained its lead in all sectors including manifest (explicit material exactly as it appears), PR driven and non-PR categories.

PR driven campaigns were not the highest content generators as "manifest" reports topped the list for Emaar in July 2009. This was closely followed by non-PR and positive reports in most months of the third quarter and PR-generated reports were a distant third and fourth in ranking for most of the time for all the developers.

The head of Mediastow, Mohamed Elzubeir, said: "As for coverage, Damac and Emaar had their amount of coverage peaks in July 2009, while Al Qudra Real Estate, Sama Dubai and Sorouh had their peak in August 2009. Finally, the coverage of Aldar Properties, Dubai Properties and Nakheel peaked in September."

Emaar, followed by Sorouh and Aldar, figured in the top three in terms of newspaper coverage size, measured in column centimetres (cc), in July and August 2009. September saw Nakheel in the lead, followed by Emaar and Aldar. A total of 3,962 articles from 168 publications were monitored between July and September 2009 for the report. Also, stocks movements of Emaar, Aldar Properties and Sorouh were evaluated and correlated with media coverage.

Compared to the third quarter of 2008, there was a general drop in numbers, with some experiencing a bigger drop than others. Al Qudra, Emaar and Nakheel experienced significant decreases in Q3 2009, compared to the same period in 2008, in terms of the volume of coverage.

In comparison to the 2008 Q3 report, there was a considerable drop in coverage of news items covering deals and partnerships. Even though the news of the landmark merger plans between Emaar, Sama Dubai, Tatweer and Dubai Properties was announced during this period, but it did not match the coverage of the same subject in the previous year's third quarter.

Damac and Al Qudra almost disappeared from the news coverage on deals in the last month of Q3, while Sama Dubai gained the maximum climbing up to 40 points to be at the top. Emaar maintained a steady position alternating between the second and third slot during the period, while Nakheel took a major plunge from leading in the same period in 2008 to a distant fourth in September 2009.

The overall drop in the coverage was most contrasting in the project category covering launch, reviews, updates and completion. From a healthy 246 points as the highest point of coverage, the average in third quarter of 2009 fell to below 50 points.

In a surprising turn of events, almost all leading developers increased their CSR activities.

Nakheel recorded the maximum coverage with 66 points and Emaar at a close second at 58. Other developers Aldar, Dubai Properties and Sorouh also increased their efforts and got reasonable exposure in return (all above the 30-point mark).

Print media – shouldering the maximum amount of media exposure in advertising and reporting – carried on the momentum with Emirates Business giving maximum exposure to Emaar, followed by Aldar and Surouh. Nakheel received the maximum exposure from The National and Arabic daily Al Khaleej gave maximum coverage to Dubai Properties and Damac.

Emaar, Aldar Properties and Sorouh experienced an upward trend in the third quarter of 2009. Aldar enjoyed a decent rise in terms of share prices throughout the quarter and inched up further during the latter part of September 2009.

The differences in coverage were not that great in terms of OTS (opportunities-to-see) and coverage size, with the exception of Al Qudra Real Estate, which experienced a very sharp drop. Interestingly, Aldar Properties maintained an average of 15,000 OTS throughout Q3 2008 and Q3 2009. Average OTS is a measure of the number of chances an average member of the target audience will have of being exposed to an advertising campaign.

September 2009 saw healthy recoveries in terms of OTS and coverage, as it exceeded September 2008 figures. This was the case for Damac, Dubai Properties and Emaar. Interestingly, while September 2009 provided healthy figures for newspapers' coverage size, it also substantially lowered coverage sizes of magazines.

The Prominence Index rankings were worse in 2009 across the board. Sorouh and Nakheel were the only two developers that managed to maintain the same Prominence Index in August 2009 compared to August 2008. July 2008 was the best month for the property developers in terms of Prominence Index in the third quarter of 2008, while September 2009 was the best month in the third quarter of this year.

Source: Business24/7

Dubai begins inspection of unregistered Dubai brokerage

Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), in co-operation with the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED), has started inspecting Dubai real estate brokerage firms that are not registered with RERA, Emirates Business has reported. The inspections will cover offices that practice real estate activities and licensed by free zones in Dubai.

Property Prices Rise But Still Lower Over 2008

A widely watched index of Dubai property prices shows home values in the city-state edged higher for the first time since the market plunged, but are still down nearly half from a year ago.

The tally out Tuesday by real estate consultancy Colliers International indicates property prices in the third quarter rose 7 percent over the preceding quarter. That is the first increase this year.

Colliers regional director Ian Albert cautioned that the rise doesn't necessarily mean the market has hit bottom.

"It's too early to say," he said. "One quarter does not make a trend."

Even with the recent gains, Dubai home prices remain 47 percent below their level at the peak of the market just a year ago.

Many of the houses and apartments were bought as vacation homes and investment properties by foreigners from Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Values plunged dramatically beginning late last year as the financial crisis dried up financing sources and scared away the overseas speculators that fueled the city's boom.

The rapid drop has erased more than two years of gains, leaving homes now worth about what they were in the spring of 2007.

Albert attributed the latest gains largely to the increased availability of mortgages and a growing perception of job security among some foreign workers _ particularly those not tied to the real estate sector, a major employer during the boom years.

As many as nine out of 10 Dubai residents are foreigners whose residency permits are usually contingent on continued employment in the emirate.

Colliers bases its index on mortgage data from local and international lenders. It measures prices in parts of Dubai where foreigners have been allowed to buy since the market was opened in 2002. Those areas were largely responsible for Dubai's real estate boom.

The consultancy said the going rate for Dubai residential property now averages 1,016 dirhams, or about $277, per square foot.

Despite the recent bump in prices, Albert said home values will likely slide further over the coming year as a glut of new properties nearing completion become available.

"It's going to happen," he said. "Prices will soften next year."