Aldar confirms affordable housing plans

Aldar, which recently denied media rumours of a merger with the emirate's second largest developer Sorouh Real Estate, said that it was looking to address sections of its projects to middle income groups.

The company's Al Raha Beach and Yas Island projects, in which expatriates can purchase properties, are expected to include units marketed to middle income groups as the next stages of development are announced.

Sorouh has already given indications that it will also be pursuing the middle income sector with future developments.

'Going forward we will be very much focused on development and on the end user rather than speculators,' Gurjit Singh, Sorouh's chief development officer told AME Info in a previous interview.

'The Abu Dhabi market has a very interesting and different outlook because it is focused on the end-user occupier. The affordable property segment especially has a lot of potential.'

The government of Abu Dhabi, furthered through the Urban Planning Council (UPC), has been encouraging developers in the city to cater to consumers outside of the luxury residential market sector. The UPC has set aside land earmarked specifically for developers willing to build affordable housing units.

Aldar has already announced the creation of its Al Falah project, which will create housing for up to 5,000 Emirati families in the middle income segment.

Currently only the Al Reef and Hydra Village developments, neither of which are near completion, have been earmarked to cater for middle income expatriate end users.

Occupancy rates in Abu Dhabi currently hold at the 99 percentile mark, meaning that there is very little leeway for leveraging increasing prices, and new developments continue to command inflated pricetags, although these have slowed as the market adjusts to the current financial turmoil.

The demand/supply imbalance is not expected to redress itself until 2011 according to analyst estimates, although the majority of new units will be aimed at the luxury residential sector. Other estimates predict that demand will continue to exceed supply well into the middle of the next decade.


See also:
Sorouh to aid sub developers 'if necessary'
Abu Dhabi 'able to finance' all current real estate projects
Abu Dhabi developers change focus to suit financial constraints