Fractional Ownership News

Shared Values changing times for Dubai developers

Date: 08/12/2009
Article source: www.pr-inside.com

Dubai has caused a stir more than once in the world of real estate. The first time was when it was on its way up and then when it went into a serious decline. However, there are developers and investors who are doing their own thing and finding benefit from sharing their values.

The way that affairs are looking in Dubai, it is no surprise that the news coming from that side of the world is less than positive. The scarcity of positive news from Dubai has many a property developer consulting the drawing board as they recalculate their assets and liabilities at a disappointingly lower value.
Dubai has always been a property investment and development Mecca but property values have plummeted in the past year. Since November 2008 there are some areas that have lost up to 50% of their property value.

The CEO of World Class Group, Michael J. Tolan, says that Dubai’s transformation will continue.

He also says that the magic of investing in Dubai has worn off; the once seemingly invincible Gulf emirate has shown that it is susceptible to the goings on in the world. Many people have been disillusioned about the power of Dubai as a no lose investment option after the country’s government has refused to help private institutions out of debt.

A year ago, World Class Group held a series of seminars in Dubai. They cited the example of the US market in the earlier 1970’s when urging developers to learn from past recessionary periods. In those days, developers were sitting with an excess of property, the economy was in a full break down and rationing your gas was a daily thing. Everything seemed hopeless, but in the middle of all of this doom and gloom, creativity came to triumph. This is where rent to buy, Condo Hotels, REITs and Shared Ownership models were introduced.

Tolan notes that this introduction in the history of property development and real estate has much to teach the Dubai of today. He goes on to say that those developers, who cotton onto shared ownership quickly, at the lower values of today, are sure to win. Other and new investors are going to be drawn to the lower entry values, offering chances of growth later on. As they say, buy low and sell high.

Michael Tolan has written a micro eBook entitled ‘Property Partnerships’; this book is meant to offer a better understanding about the value proposition of Fractional Ownership. The eBook is due for release in February 2010 and Tolan views Cyprus, Dubai, Thailand and Sharm El Sheikh as new possible centres for products that are based on the same principles as those introduced years ago.

According to Tolan, “Why invest 100% of capital to use an asset 10% of the time, when you can invest only 10% of the capital and use it 100% to the maximum.”

There is a unique conference for developers scheduled for December 8th 2009 on the subject. It will feature Registry Collection experts as well as marketing and sales professionals. A platform, dubbed “The Forum”, will be provided by the shared ownership industry for developers that are looking for other ways of attracting investors.
Tolan goes on to mention that the property and real estate industry has welcomed Fractional Ownership with open arms and that developers from Italy, USA, Dubai, Thailand and Egypt are converging on London to better understand the different aspects of it.

He added that developers in Dubai are better getting with the program by accepting the transformation and doing their part to work with the leaders in these concepts; concepts that have been proven winners.