These are a few recent headlines and predictions about when the real estate market will bottom out. Of course, there are a select few who have been calling the bottom for some time now. Oddly enough, these tend to be real estate agents and newspaper columns. Speaking of newspaper columns, we are sad to see the end of “Raising the Roof,” the erstwhile International Herald Tribune and more recently, New York Times’ very own property blog. Kevin Brass will continue to write the print edition property column for the NYT, but the online version is no more. Honestly – this was one of the few international newspaper property blogs worth reading, and I don’t think I ever once saw a “We have reached bottom, Buy Now!” headline – which may be why it has gone the way of all things? Newspaper advertising is drying up faster than the 120% mortgages did.
If you are in the UAE and thinking of bailing out on Dubai, as thousands of ex-pats are doing daily- you better move fast, before the Dubai adopts a new rule that has just been implemented in Kuwait. A senior Ministry of Communications (MoC) official in Kuwait just has confirmed that the ministry is working closely with the Ministry of Interior (MoI) on a new plan compelling expatriate residents to pay any outstanding debts before they will be allowed to travel abroad.
More on Thinking of bailing on Dubai? Move quickly before they adopt a new rule
On December 28th, The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation withdrew from an agreement to create a $17bn petrochemical joint venture with Dow Chemical of the US. The move follows a reversal of approval from the country’s Supreme Petroleum Council. Kuwait’s state-owned energy group was to pay $9bn for half of Dow ’s basic chemicals business in a deal struck a year ago. On December 1 2008, KPC renegotiated the price downwards by $2bn.
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