UAE relaxes rules on foreign residency

The UAE government has announced a new residency programme, the Golden Card visa, for foreign nationals in the UAE. In May 2018, five- and 10-year visas were announced for expats investing AED5 and AED10 million respectively, real estate included.

Other criteria for the visa have yet to be revealed but it is confirmed that permanent residency status will include the spouse and children of the visa holder.

Previously, foreign nationals could only stay two to three years at a time on employer-linked visas. Foreign nationals comprise roughly 90% of residents living in the UAE, the second-largest economy in the Arab world.

“This is a shining example of visionary leadership striving to create a big opportunity for everyone aspiring to work and invest in the UAE. Dubai, besides being a business friendly and tax-free environment, is also a vibrant property market offering high quality real estate, stable rental yields and continuous planned expansions.

“It is also a great initiative for real estate investors who have been here for long. It is a big security to know that you can remain,” said Kanika Gupta Shori, founder and COO of leading proptech firm, Square Yards. Square Yards has been helping non-resident Indians as well as other foreign nationals navigate UAE’s primary residential markets.

“Overall, I feel this will encourage expats to invest more in this country and to give back even more through their businesses, professional services and social work,” Shori said.

Keppel Land adds virtual show suites to marketing arsenal

Keppel Land is the first developer in Singapore to create 360-degree immersive virtual reality (VR) show suites leveraging Oculus Rift technology for its Highline Residences property. Two off-plan* virtual suites have joined the three physical suites at the Highline Residences showroom in Singapore.

Developed jointly by Keppel Land and visualisation firm VMW Group, the new VR platform features both the Highline Residences show suites showcasing newly-released units as well as a virtual exploration of key landmarks in the trendy Tiong Bahru neighbourhood where Highline Residences is located.

Visitors can experience 360-degree virtual immersion where cutting edge displays and optics, high refresh rates and a low-persistence display work hand-in-hand to provide a new level of visual fidelity and a wide field of view.

Foo lists the advantages of creating a virtual reality experience.

Albert Foo, GM of Marketing at Keppel Land, noted that going the VR route is more economical than building a new physical show suite, and has the added advantage of being portable, easily edited, and quicker to create.

He said, “In line with our brand philosophy of Thinking Unboxed, Keppel Land is constantly exploring new ways to provide our customers with an enhanced experience. Harnessing Oculus Rift VR technology, we are now able to showcase different configurations and apartment types without having to create the physical show suite, which is a more efficient solution especially in land-scarce cities such as Singapore. This ‘portable’ technology also enables us to reach out to customers overseas more effectively.”

Lee lists the advantage of the Oculus Rift.

According to Foo, building a physical suite would have required permits to be processed and physically constructing the building, a process which would have taken six months or more. The virtual versions took two months to complete.

Lee Hon Kit, MD, VMW, said, “Each VR show suite was created in great detail, aligning strictly to the actual size of the unbuilt units and integrated with the unit plan overlay for orientation and navigation. Users will be able to experience a comprehensive view of everything including the high-end interior finishes and fittings, with future iterations of the technology allowing users to change materials and fittings they would like to explore for their future homes.”
 
"It is not about being the first in the market to do something," Foo added. "The whole purpose of doing show suites is for our customers have the experience of the development, to give them a very good idea of how the apartment will turn out."

While Keppel Land has supported augmented and virtual reality, the company had not felt that the experience would be immersive enough until seeing work made for the Oculus Rift VR headsets about four months ago. "We couldn't tell if (the content) was real or a computer rendered image," he said. "After testing we are convinced that the experience is indeed immersive and that you really can't tell what is real and what is not real any more."

No detail too small.

Foo added that authenticity had been a focus for the project, with four iterations required just to ensure that the toilet paper looked exactly like the real thing.

"In future we expect to have both physical and virtual show suites," he said, noting that requests to change the decor or the layout of a unit can be accommodated more easily virtually.

Highline Residences comprises a total of 500 homes ranging from one- to four-bedroom units, dual key apartments as well as penthouses, spread across three residential towers and four low-rise blocks. Approximately 88% of the 320 launched units have been sold as at end-September 2016.

Keppel Land has two virtual reality walkthrough stations with swivel chairs for ease of exploration. Prospective customers can wear the Oculus Rift headset and navigate with the help of a handheld one-button cursor control. The images delivered to the left and right eyes can be viewed on dual screens. Lee stands behind a volunteer to explain how the walkthroughs work.

Keppel Land is recognised for its portfolio of residential developments and investment-grade commercial properties with Singapore and China as its core markets, as well as Indonesia and Vietnam as its growth markets. The Asian property developer has a pipeline of about 70,000 homes in Singapore and overseas. It is behind prime office space such as the Marina Bay Financial Centre, Ocean Financial Centre and One Raffles Quay.

The showroom also boasts an interactive video board with a three-panel display that allows visitors to explore landmarks, shopping, dining and transport options in the neighbourhood where Highline Residences is located. Landmarks can be tapped on for deep-dives.

The showroom also boasts an interactive video board with a three-panel display that allows visitors to explore landmarks, shopping, dining and transport options in the neighbourhood where Highline Residences is located.

Interested?

The virtual show suites can be experienced at the Highline Residence Sales Gallery at Kim Tian Road (entrance roughly opposite Block 123) from 15 October between 10am to 6pm daily.

A bedroom in one of the physical show suites. There are a lot of textures to digitise.

Hashtags: #HighlineResidences, #ThinkingUnboxed

*Off-plan properties are those which do not yet have a physical representation, and are only available as plans.

CoAssets adds SME projects to crowdfunding portfolio, looks towards Australia

Singapore crowd funding company CoAssets has announced that it has extended its crowdfunding platform into the SME sector. Through the company's lead generation platform, which allows registered users to view, research, and ultimately invest in real estate or SME projects, Singaporean SMEs can now immediately connect with investors, bridging a funding gap in the business funding sector.

Getty Goh, CEO, CoAssets said, "Given our proven track record with real estate crowdfunding, and the growing demand for business loans in Singapore, we decided to extend our platform to the SME sector. We are an alternative source of capital for property developers and SMEs, both in Singapore and abroad, and look forward in facilitating their search for competitively priced capital in a timely fashion."

In addition to its advances in the Singapore market, the company is looking to expand the reach of its business crowdfunding arm into Australia, via its wholly owned subsidiary. The company recently became a Corporate Authorized Representative of the Melbourne Securities Corporation, allowing CoAssets to target the Australian business and real estate crowdfunding market. With the start of operations in Australia, CoAssets will solidify its regional expansion with presence in five key markets: Singapore, China, Indonesia, Australia and Malaysia.

Goh said that recent financial results are encouraging and set the stage for the company's transition onto the Australian main board this year. "As flagged in November 2015, CoAssets sees its Australian operations as a key driver of future growth. The company will now be operating its leading crowdfunding platform in five countries, targeting a combined population of 1.5 billion+, and an addressable market estimated to be US$100 billion annually. The Australian Government has set a big focus on financial innovation, including crowdfunding, and given our success throughout the region, the time is right for us to expand our offering in Australia," Goh said.

CoAssets further announced that Singapore's Ex-Chief Artillery Officer, Colonel Lawrence Lim, will be their Chief Operating Officer (COO) from 4 May 2016. As COO, Colonel Lim will drive CoAssets' day-to-day operations, while Goh further implements the company's operational strategy.

To date, CoAssets has brokered deals worth more than S$44 million in total. 

Rush for office space in Metro Manila continues in Q315

Premium and Grade A office space takeup in Metro Manila's main business districts (CBDs) continued to accelerate in Q315 due to strong pre-leasing activity, according to the most recent Office Briefing published by Savills international associate KMC MAG Group, a Philippines real estate services firm.

More than 200,000 sq m (232,961) was newly delivered in Q3, and almost everything was snapped up, at 231,412 sq m - a record takeup rate. 

"Most of the new spaces delivered have been pre-leased prior to completion; that is why takeup is very high," said Michael McCullough, KMC MAG Managing Director.

Upcoming supply is estimated to reach around 1.8-million sq m in 2018. Despite the significant amount of supply, KMC MAG says that overall office rental and vacancy rates are expected to remain stable given the strong pre-leasing activity.

"We continue to see interest from both local and foreign firms across all CBDs, although most of the interest is currently in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) only because it is where most of the new supply will come from," said McCullough.

"The profiles of companies who have pre-leased or are currently pre-leasing space vary across all CBDs. Ortigas, Bay Area, and Quezon City are very attractive to new IT-BPO firms who are just starting to outsource services and processes to the Philippines because of the lower rates.

"Makati remains the CBD of choice for large-scale enterprises who want to upgrade their headquarters and move to a better location, however many firms are forced to look towards BGC due to the lack of available and suitable space."

Thanks to the sustained IT-BPO industry demand and the relatively low level of new supply in these areas, Bay Area and Quezon City are projected to have the lowest vacancy rates and strongest rental rate growth among the business districts within the next 12 months.

In Q3, the Bay Area recorded a 17% year on year (YoY) rental rate growth, with Grade A rentals averaging from Php673.4 to Php700 per sq m/month and an ultra-low 1.3% vacancy rate.

Meanwhile, Quezon City posted an 8.5% YoY growth, with average Grade A office rates ranging from Php700.4 to Php750.0 per sq m/month. Located in the northernmost part of Metro Manila, Quezon City boasts vacancy rates of under 1% with only 0.2% of its total stock unoccupied, making it the best performing CBD in the country this quarter.

Makati, on the other hand, remains as the premium CBD, posting a 4.3% YoY growth with the highest asking net Grade A rental rates averaging Php 979.1 to Php 1400.0 per sq m/month. In spite of this, Makati's vacancy rate remains low at 3%, and is likely to become lower once Tower 6789 becomes fully occupied.

BGC comes in next, with a rental growth of 3.7% YoY and an average asking rental rate of Php860.4 to Php1,100 per sq m/month. The district's vacancy rate increased slightly to 2.6%; however, it should be noted that this is because it has absorbed most of the new demand, allowing it to post its highest recorded quarterly takeup since Q114 of 49,639 sq m.

Ortigas' growth remains strong at 6.8% YoY, bringing average rental rates up to Php624.6 per sq m/month, with an upper rate of Php750 per sq m/month. Ortigas' strong rental growth is expected to continue, given its current 2.5% vacancy rate and lack of new supply until the end of 2016.

Alabang is the only CBD office market with sluggish growth. YoY growth was 0.6% and vacancy rates 16%. This brought down the average asking rental rates to Php 605.3per sq m/month in Q315 from Php601.8 per sq m/month a year ago.

Interested?

Read the report (PDF)

Malaysia and Japan lead positive commercial property outlook going forward

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has shown in the Q2 2014 RICS Global Commercial Property Monitor, that the Occupier Sentiment Index (OSI) for Hong Kong's commercial property market remains negative for the fourth consecutive quarter. 

Occupier demand continued to fall with the retail segment losing significant momentum, although office and industrial occupier demand remained stable. With falling tenant demand and rising supply, rent value expectations at the three month time horizon have turned more negative. 

Investment sentiment, as reflected by the Investment Sentiment Index (ISI), also remained in negative territory in Q2. RICS believes the growth trajectory is likely to continue to be bumpy in the second half as the global recovery will probably remain tepid, affecting the commercial property sector accordingly.

RICS Senior Economist Andy Wu, said: "In Hong Kong, rents in the central business district continued to struggle to show any significant growth in the second quarter, given a lacklustre employment market in the financial services sector and rising levels of available rental stock in the decentralised business districts. Our survey results also indicate that investors are still somewhat hesitant towards making a commitment in the commercial property and we expect the trend to continue for the time being."

Recent data indicates the short-term economic outlook for Singapore continues to to be relatively sluggish as well. Although the OSI remains in positive territory, it declined in Q2. Similarly, the ISI edged down over the quarter. 

Wu observed that there are signs that economic uncertainty is starting to affect the commercial property sector in Singapore. "We believe in the short term real estate activity will remain relatively depressed due to ongoing economic challenges. That said, the fundamentals of the city state's real estate market still look positive for the medium to long term as Singapore could continue to emerge stronger through a high level of transparency and a business-friendly set of policies."

China is not looking favourable either, with the OSI and ISI falling into negative territory for the first time since 2009. "The biggest threat to China, other than headwinds from a recurrence of tighter credit conditions, is the apparent oversupply of offices and retail space which will strain current rental values and prices during a period of fading interest from businesses and investors," said Wu. 

"We believe investment levels and transaction volumes will likely continue to be depressed through the reminder of the year. Nevertheless, acceleration of government reforms and measures aimed at stimulating the economy should offset some of the adverse market forces."

In contrast, Malaysia's OSI increased notably since Q1, climbing firmly into positive territory. In addition, the ISI has also turned positive for the first time since mid-2013, partly driven by domestic demand and growth in export. 

The OSI and ISI in Japan also continued upward, with both indicators posting another strong reading and remaining positive for the 12th consecutive quarter. Buoyant OSI and ISI figures indicative of high confidence levels were also seen for New Zealand.

"Interestingly economic optimism, thought gently fading, has continued to trigger strong demand for property space in Japan. It's clear both foreign and domestic investors still see the value of Japanese commercial real estate and remain particularly enamored with the office, retail and industrial sectors. We believe this upward trend will unlikely reverse itself anytime soon and investment numbers will continue to uptick for some time to come," noted Wu.
The RICS Global Commercial Property Survey is a quarterly guide to developing trends in the commercial property investment and occupier market. Find out more about the survey here.  

*About the RICS Occupier Sentiment Index (OSI) and the RICS Investment Sentiment Index (ISI)

The OSI is constructed by taking an unweighted average of readings for three series relating to the occupier market measured on a net balance basis; occupier demand, the level of inducements and rent expectations.

The ISI is constructed by taking an unweighted average of readings for three series relating to the investment market measured on a net balance** basis; investment enquiries, capital value expectations and the supply of distressed properties.

**Net balances are calculated by subtracting the numbers of respondents reporting 'down' from the number who reported 'up'.