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Deyaar refocus on low-cost housing
Deyaar, which once focused primarily on high-rise buildings, is shifting its focus to villas and low-cost housing.
"The next big thing is hands-down low cost housing... there are 90 million people in the Middle East who are eligible for low-cost housing," Markus Giebel, Deyaar's CEO said.
"A developing country needs a middle class. A middle class cannot afford a million dollar apartment in the Marina.
The transition of the UAE to middle class is imperative," said Giebel.
Deyaar, which is Dubai's second-largest listed developer and on Monday announced it was cutting 20 per cent of its workforce, has handed over seven projects in the third quarter of 2009 and plans to double the size of its property portfolio over the next five years.
At Cityscape Dubai earlier this month, the events director Chris Speller said "the demand for low-cost housing in the UAE is undeniable"
However Nicholas Maclean, managing director of property consultants CB Richard Ellis Middle East, said that while they had looked at low-cost housing projects, it was difficult to make the numbers work. "This has to be kick-started with government assistance since it could have a beneficial impact on the region as a whole," he said.
Giebel said Dubai's property market had reached a bottom but was now very different from the boom years.
"The shelf life of a product in 2008 was two to four days. Now the shelf life is six to twelve months," said Giebel.
Source: www.7days.ae/business Oct. 28, 2009
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