World’s Tallest Building

World’s Tallest Skyscraper Will Be in Saudi Arabia

First Published: ADawnJournal.com Published Date : July 14, 2016

Saudi Arabia recently announced to build the world’s tallest skyscraper. The multi-purpose Kingdom Tower near Red Sea in Jeddah will stand 1000 meters tall (3,280 feet) and will be located in the centre of the $20 billion dollar Kingdom City Development project. This tower will have office space, a Four Seasons hotel, condominiums, the world’s highest observatory deck, encompassing about 5.4 million square feet of space.

Kingdom Tower will be designed by Chicago-based architectural firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill. The Saudis have awarded this $1 billion plus project to the Saudi construction giant The Binladen Group. The construction of the world’s tallest tower is expected to take about five years.

Once completed, Kingdom Tower would break the record of the world’s current tallest skyscraper Burj Khalifa in Dubai. 828 meters Burj Khalifa is not only tallest building in the world but also the world’s tallest free-standing structure. Canada’s 553 meters CN Tower (completed in 1976) held records for being the world’s tallest free-standing structure and the world’s tallest tower for 34 years until the completion of Burj Khalifa in Dubai and Canton Tower in China.

Saudi Arabia, an oil dependent country, recently trying to emerge from an oil-based economy to a diversified economy. Currently Saudi Arabia is working on various projects to build numbers of economic cities, complexes, and skyscrapers to become an economic hub in that region.

Your Responsibilities as a Mortgage Holder

Mortgage and Responsibilities

First Published: Aug 22, 2009 ADawnJournal.com
 

To buy a house in this day and age, it is – for most of us – necessary to borrow money. There is obviously a section of society who are able to afford to pay in cash and own their real estate property without ever needing to borrow to support it. However, even those who can afford to buy property without a mortgage will often get one anyway. Their positive financial situation means that they can support a higher level of borrowing than the average individual, and therefore purchase a more desirable property. Others again will decide not to get a mortgage and continue to rent for the majority of their life because of the greater relative freedom it gives them. The fact is that having a mortgage confers upon you certain responsibilities which it is essential that you meet.

It may seem, with the failsafe aspects built into a mortgage – the possibility of a payment holiday, the ability to renegotiate and remortgage, and so forth – that there is less incentive upon an individual to maintain the correct running of their account. However, it needs to be taken into account that for every concession a bank gives on the basis of a customer’s inability to make full payment, there is a price to be paid in terms of “provision”. That is to say that a bank needs to set aside a certain amount of money to cover bad debt. For every time that a person defaults on a loan of any sort, that money needs to be dipped into. Every time that money is dipped into, it affects how a bank can set its interest rates on commercial and residential credit.

There are two kinds of “bad debtors” – people who do not pay towards their debts – and these are termed “can’t pay” and “won’t pay” customers. Both types of customer affect provision in much the same way, as the money needs to be set aside to cover their debt whether or not they could actually make the payments. However, from an individual, arguably moral, point of view, the “won’t pay” customers are unnecessarily driving up the cost of banking for those who are making their payments and running their accounts successfully. It would be poor business sense on the part of a bank to allow itself to be hamstrung excessively by the bad debts of its customers – so “good debtors” bear the brunt of the costs.

It could not be said that “can’t pay” customers have the same moral obligation to make their payments as “won’t pay” customers. But the fact is that if you are in a position to meet your debt payments – especially mortgage payments which are tied to risk both for yourself and for the bank – then you must do so, as to fail in this respect does not just penalise you, but others as well. It is also true that banks have their own responsibilities to live up to, but as consumers we have little sway in making them do so – so for our purposes, only our own responsibilities are relevant.

China's Global Real Estate Appetite

Chinese Investors Step Up Global Real Estate Shopping

First Published: Sep 6, 2014 RealEstateExpedition.com

Chinese appetite for global real estate property is on an upward bound. In the first half of 2104, global property investment reached $5.4 billion or 17 percent, according to real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

As real estate outlook in China loses optimism due to tight financing and oversupply, investors in China are exploring real estate beyond their borders.

Although commercial real estate grabbed the greater chunk ($4 billion) of the $5.4 billion spent in the first half 2014, the growth has skyrocketed in residential real estate from 2013 - 84 percent higher at $1.5 billion.

London ranked number one for Chinese investors with a $2.3 billion spending, according to JLL. Other popular cities are San Francisco, Chicago, Sydney, and Madrid.

On retail investments, Chinese home buyers are grabbing homes in these hot real estate market countries: USA, Australia, Canada, and UK., according to real estate portal Juwai.com.

Also, as some southern European countries such as Spain, Portugal, Cyprus have introduced the Golden Visa program where home buyers are qualified for residency with a minimum qualified amount spent on a home purchase.

Spain is one of the most popular destinations for Chinese retirees, with its pleasant climate and attractive healthcare system.

Some other hot favourite countries for Chinese investors are Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. Although Thailand has been a Chinese investors' hot favourite for long time, Malaysia is the new kid on the block and moving up on the list.

Top 12 Global Real Estate Cities

Global Real Estate Rising Star Cities

 

First Published: Jun 21, 2014 RealEstateExpedition.com

A recent report, jointly published by the leading interior design house Candy & Candy, the Savills, and Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, identified 12 cities across the globe that can have residential real estate value skyrocket in the next few years. Here are the top 12 cities according to the Candy GPS Report. The $ value shows the cost of a two-bedroom apartment in not-so-expensive areas in those cities.

Tel Aviv - $500,000

Melbourne - $320,000

Miami - $275,000

Chicago - $250,000

Dublin - $210,000

Panama City - $200,000

Beirut - $180,000

Istanbul - $125,000

Cape Town - $110,000

Jakarta - $90,000

Lagos - $70,000

Chennai - $40,000

Some highlights from the report -

- Cities like Chennai, Panama, and Tel Aviv can have strong growth potential cities like New York, London, Hong Kong, etc.

- Poor fixed-income markets and equity performance are driving the growth towards real estate markets across the globe.

- Residential real estate properties continue to be the investment of choice for the ultra rich.

- Characteristics that make cities hot spots for real estate investors include presence of new tech industries, English language spoken, proximity to green spaces or water, and so on.

- African cities like Cape Town and Logos are among those rising global real estate cities to show strong growth potential as alternate locations.

- Chennai in India is the cheapest city among these 12 rising star cities.

To view the report, visit the Candy & Candy website.

Billionaires Love Global Real Estate

Global Billionaires Hold One Fifth in Real Estate
 

First Published: Mar 30, 2014 RealEstateExpedition.com

Global real estate markets are increasingly becoming the playground of billionaires and private property transactions starting at at least $10 million dollars have tripled since 2009 - a recent report published by Savills and Wealth-X points out. Here are some highlights from the report -

- The ultra rich hold 20 percent of their wealth in residential real estate.

- The total value of world's real estate is around US$180 trillion.

- 72 percent of total real estate is residential property occupied by owners and global billionaires hold about 3 percent.

- European and Asian billionaires hold 80 percent property by value.

- European billionaires hold 31 percent wealth in real estate. Asian billionaires hold 27 percent in real estate. And Middle East billionaires hold 26 percent in real estate.

- North American billionaires hold only 7 percent wealth in real estate.

- Europe is the home of the most international and largest real estate and attracts the most global investments.

- Global billionaires population expected to increase 22 percent by 2018.

- Combined wealth for the ultra rich is expected to rise close to US$36 trillion by 2018 from US$27.8 trillion at current.

- There are about 200,000 ultra rich in the world. These are ultra high net-worth (UHNW) individuals with more than $30 million in investable assets across the globe.

Wealth-X is a Singapore-based company that provides intelligence on the ultra rich. To view the full report, visit Wealth-X website.