Indeed a survey of real estate market professionals conducted in October 2008 by JLL and Cityscape Dubai concluded that Saudi Arabia is set to become the best regional performer in the real estate sector in the next three years, with yields projected in excess of 8.5% per annum for prime commercial assets and higher for specialized assets such as hospitality

Clinton actually started that during his term..Bush probably carried it to try and help the poor..little did anyone know (should have) that most of these loans were defaulted on because of lack of credit or no income verification…..what u get by trying to help someone

[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onCosta Rica retirement plan « Sol Property Groupâ??s WeblogHere’s a quick excerptIt all begins with the real estate market. Those who know say the real estate market in Costa Rica is one of the most stable in the world, and prices are easily comparable to US property or lower. You could easily find a beautiful beach … [...]

Supply and demand.

Suppose there are ten widgets, and twelve people that want widgets. Widgets sell for $10 each, and all twelve are willing to pay at least that amount.

Well, if you own a widget you didn't want or need, what would you do? You'd offer to sell your widget. But knowing that there is high demand for widgets, you'll offer to sell yours at a premium. Let's say you offer to sell yours at $15. And all twelve people come running, wanting to buy…

The owners of the other nine widgets put theirs on the market. And the market responds. People desperate for widgets start bidding higher and higher. After all, there are fewer widgets than people who want widgets. You've got to pay a premium if you expect to get one.

But eventually, let's say when widgets reach $22, one of the twelve that wants a widget realizes widget prices have gotten too high for her. She drops out of the bidding. Now there are ten widgets for eleven people. The price still goes up because there is more demand than supply, but then gets to a point where another person drops out of the bidding. Let's suppose this price is $30. Now there are ten widgets, ten people left that want one, and everyone is happy.

Now, suppose one of the ten with a widget decides he no longer needs his and wants to sell it. Could he get $30? No. There are only two people left that want widgets, and both dropped out of the market before this price. To sell the widget, he would have to drop his price to where the second person dropped out. That is the market value – the highest price at which he could willingly sell and find a buyer. The second person knows if the price drops lower, the first dropout will purchase. And the second person is okay paying the less than $30 but more than $22 price.

And this is what is happening in the real estate market. Home prices are easing down to see what is the least amount they need to lower in order to induce the last group of purchasers that dropped out before the highest prices were reached to change their minds and purchase. A house that was on the market for $300,000 but not selling will lower to $280,000 and see if there are any takers. If not, then the owner might try $260,000. The prices will ease down slowly to see where this breaking point is as opposed to dropping down to where they began.

Hope this explains it!

Some foremost developers based in the region say it is becoming more and more complicated for them to sell flats at launch stage due to lack of interest from speculators. This reflects on the inherent demand structure in the real estate market.]]>